Essay by Lawrence L. Langer

With his series of 55 drawings and paintings in In a Different Light, Samuel Bak examines concepts such as creation, cruelty, mortality, morality and accusation. Subjects include: scriptural stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their various encounters with their Creator, humankind's passage through Time and its changing role in existence, tikkun hao'lam — the enormous task of repairing the world, and Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, at whose center God's and Adam's pointing fingers almost touch. Imbued with the same rich color palette and use of metaphors for which Bak is renowned, this body of work also adds new symbols and characters to the artist's repertoire. Moreover, this series asks difficult questions concerning divine compassion, human defiance, moral responsibility, and the role of the artist in society.

• Published by Pucker Art Publications, Boston, MA, 2001

• Distributed by University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA

• Slip-cased hardcover book, 11.25 x 9"

• 185 pages with full color images

• ISBN: 1-879985-06-3

• Price: $50.00 + $10.00 shipping