Brushes with Faith

“There is plenty in this engaging book to pique the imagination of curators and art critics as well as students and scholars. The artists are well chosen and offer an intriguing cross-section of the contemporary art world, from emerging artists to established practitioners working across almost every medium. It is particularly welcome to see Jewish artists drawn into conversations with artists from different religious and cultural backgrounds.”


—Samantha Baskind, Cleveland State University, author of Jewish Artists and the Bible in Twentieth-Century America





“Imagine a gallery staging a remarkable exhibit, gathering a global array of artists whose work intersects with, is informed by, and often unsettles Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And then imagine you could sit down and have a conversation with a number of the artists. Well, you’re holding that exhibit in your hands. In this marvelous little book, critic and curator Aaron Rosen deconstructs tired assumptions about both contemporary art and religious faith, inviting us to reconsider both.”


—James K. A. Smith, Calvin College, editor-in-chief, Image Journal





“Rosen’s engagingly fluent prose comes across like an everyday conversation, easy and topical, until passages of sudden insight and real beauty tip the reader into unexpected depths of thought. Not often do you find a book that offers such easy companionship yet leaves you profoundly altered, for Rosen conjures up a sense of intimacy and reciprocity with art and artists, while now and then alerting us to the weighty business of being human.”


—Frances Spalding, CBE, FRSL, University of Cambridge