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- "The highest honor an artist can receive is to have their art
used in worship," explains Lara. He points out the Roman Catholic
Church's "Book of the Gospels" is carried in procession by
a deacon and incensed during worship. "To have James do the art
for this Gospel book in my opinion is the highest honor." - "The figures, almost uniformly brown with magnetic, almond-shaped
eyes, have a sense of sameness about them. They are less individuals
than archetypes and they are numerous. James seems to be saying that
the God of worship is very much a communal God, who is not so much the
central figure in his own oeuvre, but animates the lives of those he
touches. - "She doesn't confine her paintings to the rendering of saints.
Sinners populate her work, and her depictions of Christ are of a humble
but generous figure often reaching for those around him, or drawing
those around him - man or beast - closer in. - "Her secular and religious art converge whenever her women subjects
appear dressed in casual clothing and with a pair of wings. However,
her depiction of angels in female forms is not intended to challenge
the status quo but to bring out the angelic qualities in people, which
she presents from a woman's perspective. - "In leisure time scenes, romantic encounters, and portraits,
James depicts her feminine subjects in the world in which she and other
women like her live. Her attention to the many frames of a woman's life
are likened to artists Leonor Fini and Faith Ringgold (1930-). - "What a beautiful Book of the Gospels! Let me applaud the staff
of LTP for an artistic rendering offered by Laura James appropriate
for our time -- punctuating the multi-cultural portrait of the Church
in America currently. Hers' is truly church art, contemporary and classical
all at once..." "In the art of Laura James, all Americans are drawn in to see
themselves -- it has been created for the contemporary American and
has been crafted for beauty worthy of the Word of God." "Laura James' wonderful images have proven exceptionally popular
with our greeting card buyers -- her paintings touch people on a very
personal level." "Every Community is trying to see themselves in Gods imageî.
Rev. Ed. Foley teaches students from 38 different countries how to say
mass using James' illustrated book (of Gospels).
"I was immediately brought to a sense of awe with these representations
of the Biblical beingsî. Most Reverend Joseph N. Perry Auxiliary
Bishop of Chicago. ______________________________________________________ Black Catholic Chicago Interview - June 2001 Book of the Gospels By Lasana Kazembe Laura James is a self-taught painter living and working in New York. She paints primarily Biblical themes using iconography found in Ethiopian Christian art. Ms. James is a keen student of the Bible and ancient African cultures. Her goal is to see her works in churches and public places where Black people can see themselves in Biblical roles. She was commissioned by former New York Mayor David Dinkins and the Crown Heights Youth Collective to create a "peace" mural and a series of eleven angels throughout the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. She has appeared on the PBS television series City Arts and on the cable program In-Style TV. Additionally, her work has received critical acclaim in The Daily News, New York Newsday, Class Magazine, The Shield, The City Sun, and Caribbean Life. Collectors of her work include Dr. Calvin Butts (Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem) and artist / collectors Camille Billops and Danny Simmons. Ms. James paintings have exhibited in Japan, Africa, Canada, and the Caribbean. Ms. James has recently expanded her collection to include secular work. Using bright colors, intricate patterns, and sometimes surreal subjects, her paintings continue to display her unique style and vision. BLACK CATHOLIC CHICAGO: Please explain your attraction to Ethiopian Christian images. LAURA JAMES: Around 1991 my husband and I were really introduced to Ethiopia by Rastafarian friends, (my husband is Jamaican). I was impressed with the fact that Ethiopia had never been colonized, and with the history of Ethiopia as a Christian country since the 4th century. Since I was learning about Ethiopia, and the Rastafari Movement, collecting books, videos, and other information, I was very excited when walking around my neighborhood in Brooklyn, I saw a book titled, Ethiopian Magic Scrolls. I was attracted to the colors, the eyes of the angels and people, the details, and the simplicity of the art. It really stood out on this crowded street, very attractive. As I looked through this book I decided to make a painting of nine angels using pieces of different images. During this time I found an old catalog from an exhibition hung in Germany, and got inspired to paint more icons. Icons painted in this way were hard to find, and I really had to dig deep. Many of the books had the same images repeated over and over. I started to add text to my paintings, and painted Bible stories that I did not see in my source material. I painted a series of Ethiopian saints, hoping to introduce Ethiopian history to people who may not know about it in any other way. BCC: Have you always painted biblical themes? JAMES: I was brought up going to church regularly with my whole family, a denomination called "Brethren." I liked to read the Bible, and had an interest in religion in general, and history. And I always wanted to paint, to be a painter. Having no talent at that, I started out taking photographs, and organizing art exhibits. BCC: Are you pleased with how the Book of the Gospels turned out? JAMES: I've always liked seeing my work reproduced, and I knew that I'd do some kind of book eventually, but this book is more than I could hope for. Believing I could make all these painting in due time and pushing myself to do it really proves that I have perfect confidence in God, and he has perfect confidence in me. BCC: Do you feel the book has expanded the public's awareness? JAMES: The Ethiopian Christian art style is still unknown to many people. First time viewers of my work usually think this is something I originated. I think that we've definitely expanded on the Bible themes traditionally painted in this style. I've seen quite a bit of authentic Ethiopian iconography, and I've never seen renditions of the VISITATION, MYRRH BEARING WOMEN, ANNA AND SIMEON, WASHING FEET, and on and on, maybe 80% of the stories illustrated in this book. I feel as though we're really expanding on the Ethiopian iconic tradition. It's a wonderful thing. BCC: How has your work been received among the wider public? JAMES: Although I've had success selling my work to church people, and even more to non-religious people, I've had no success getting predominately Black churches to buy or even display my work. Actually I did exhibit at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Harlem a few years ago, as part of a Christmas program. But for some reason that I still can't pinpoint, the church is not receptive to displaying these images. I've had church leaders buy work and say they'd love to have something for the church but... They bring up the bureaucracy, there's this board and that board. It seems that church leaders don't want to offend anyone, so they stick with the traditional European images. I also think that placing value on artwork, wanting to preserve and promote it, is not a priority of "minority" communities in general, and much worse in the church. Clergy will buy for themselves because they appreciate the beauty of the icons, and the themes are important to them, but on a mass level, bringing it to the congregation, it's almost taboo. I figured I would start with Black churches first, and then try mainstream churches, that made sense to me. But because of the rejection of the Black church, I guess I just gave up on that idea, and figured I'd wait until someone approached me. BCC: With that being so, what message, if any, are you hoping to communicate to Black churches? JAMES: I'm hoping this book will say to these predominately Black churches, and to all churches and denominations, "See, it's ok to embrace this art, this art and art like it that depicts Black people in these roles." BCC: I understand that you and your husband are opening a restaurant. JAMES: Yes, my husband and I are opening a restaurant. The Black Star Cafe. We're serving vegetarian food and fish. It's actually around the corner from our apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Christopher is the chef. He's Jamaican and his food is very tasty and flavorful. BCC: Has it been a long time dream of yours? JAMES: We've wanted to do this for a while. We are vegetarians, so we're basically serving dishes we eat all the time. We like to promote abundant health and well-being as a natural gift from God. The store has artwork and interesting things to look at. We're planning on opening next week [mid-June 2001]. BCC: Any future projects on the horizon? JAMES: Right now I'm most concerned with getting Black Star open. My rep and I are trying to find a suitable venue in the city to exhibit the artwork from the Gospel book. The show will probably happen later this year or early 2002. I'm also having my work carried as greeting cards for the first time early next year by EthnoGraphics (California). BCC: Thanks very much for your time, Ms. James. JAMES: Peace. Chicago Tribune Copyright (c) 2003
-------------------- Gospel illustrations on Display
By Sufiya Abdur-Rahman January 24, 2003 The beauty, people say, is in the eyes. The wide almond-shaped eyes of Jesus, as painted by Laura James, seem to convey a sense of caring that instantly reveals the identity of the man with jet-black hair and brown skin. In her illustrations for a book of the Gospels published in Chicago, all the biblical characters are black. James, 32, an artist from Brooklyn, works in the centuries-old tradition of Ethiopian Christian iconography. "I was immediately brought to a sense of awe with these representations of the biblical beings," said Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who introduced James as an exhibit of her work opened in Catholic Theological Union last week. "We who are of African heritage see our faces," Perry said. "We've never seen anything like this." Published in 2000 by Liturgy Training Publications, the book of the Gospels that James illustrated contains selected Gospel readings for Sundays, solemnities, feasts and all ritual masses. It is an elaborate volume with gilded pages, large type and a ribbon marker. The cover features reflective foil portraits of the four evangelists--Matthew depicted as an angel, Mark as a lion, Luke as an ox and John as an eagle--who told Jesus' life story. In services at large parishes, such books often are raised during processions and read aloud and kissed during mass. When Perry approached the Chicago-based publisher about illustrating the book, he had a more traditional artist in mind. But when that arrangement fell through, the publication's designer, Larry Cope, suggested James. "I'm pretty sure there are people who would rather see other ethnicities in the book of the Gospels," Cope said. "The church is supposed to be a universal church and supposed to embrace all ethnicities. The book is for those who are open-minded." James who is from a West Indian family, said that "in my house we had the white Jesus with the long hair." And in her childhood church, she said, "everybody would be quiet and sit and listen for five hours. There was no music and no art at all." So it was a welcome departure from what she called a "dull" religious experience when she caught her first glimpse of Ethiopian Christian art on the cover of a book in a Brooklyn store window about 10 years ago. James, captivated by the expressive eyes and brown faces, decided to imitate some of the images. "As I got better at it, I began to do my own stuff," she said. James also learned more about Ethiopia and was surprised to hear of its long history of Christianity. According to Richard McCarron, assistant professor of liturgy at Catholic Theological Union, Christianity arrived early in the 4th Century when a Greek-speaking youth from Syria was shipwrecked on his way to India and taken to Aksum, the kingdom now called Ethiopia. The youth, Frumentius, was put into service in the royal palace and converted Prince Ezana, who would become king. Later Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria ordained Frumentius as the first bishop of Ethiopia. "I was really annoyed that something so important was never presented in school or in church," James said. Although James said she paints Ethiopian Christian iconography mainly for herself, she also does it to allow people of color to see themselves in biblical roles. Ethiopian Christian art was derived from Byzantine art, James said. Priests and devotees would scratch interpretations of the designs on animal skins and dye them a few different colors, usually red, yellow, green and brown. The images were mainly of the Virgin Mary, the saints and the crucifixion of Jesus, James said. The art accompanied text in magic scrolls and illuminated manuscripts and was displayed outside churches, she said. James puts a contemporary flair on the tradition. She utilizes more colors, paints in acrylic on canvas or wood, and expands her subjects to include other biblical characters, such as Noah, Job and Jonah. Many of the people who attended the opening last week--blacks, whites and Hispanics--bought copies of the book and asked James to sign them. The original artwork from the book will be on display at the school's Courtyard Gallery, 5401 S. Cornell Ave., through Feb. 14. "There's something about the eyes and the color, it's almost magnetic," said Sister Bernadette Corboy, a Catholic Theological Union student. "It leads to a deep sense of connection to the story that it's portraying." The color of the people didn't distract Corboy, who is white and Australian. In fact, she thinks her Micronesian students in Kiribati will be more attracted to the book because the characters look like them. Rev. Ed Foley, a Catholic Theological Union liturgy professor, said he teaches students from 38 different countries how to say mass using James' illustrated book. "Every community is trying to see themselves in God's image," he said.
Copyright (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune _______________________________________________________
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