The Word of God: Sandow Birk’s American Qur’an 

For five years Sandow Birk has been creating his epic body of work American Qur’an. In this ongoing series, Birk employs traditional Islamic calligraphy and painting techniques to illustrate the entire 114 Suras of the Qur’an. Using ink, gouache and a hand-lettered “font” based on graffiti tagging, he illuminates the verses with relevant scenes from contemporary American life. A selection of these Suras will be on view.  This exhibition is the first in an ongoing series titled The Word of God, which will examine major religious texts through the lens of contemporary art.

The exhibition tour is organized by Forma Projects: 21, Venice, California.

Images courtesy of Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco and P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York.

The Word of God Exhibitions and Project:

At a time when political parties fight viciously for the higher moral ground, when controversy reigns in the building of mosques, and when bigotry, abortion, and same-sex marriage are wedges of division in our culture there still remains room for interfaith understanding. The Warhol has, in its sixteen year history, presented difficult or controversial imagery and art in order to spark community dialogue. The dialogues and visitor experiences from such encounters with art and images are powerful and potentially community changing.