ELEMENTAL

the long version

A number of publishers have produced successful titles showcasing art and poetry but these books generally run between 40 and 60 pages while rarely providing any kind of meaningful insight into the work itself. Not only is *ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love*, a full-sized coffee table book of 140 landscape pages, but the creators of this title both have viable links to famous Jazz Age Harlem Renaissance. Artist Luther E. Vann actually studied with artists of the phenomenal period and *ELEMENTAL* includes statements from him as well as commentaries by others providing informed assessments of his work. Moreover, the co-author, Aberjhani (who also co-authored Facts On File’s *Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance*) has provided an extended biographical essay on the artist in addition to critically acclaimed accompanying poems. The informative text aspect of this book makes it a very valuable one for library collections. Aside from the above, the work itself, both the art and poetry presented in the book, has been celebrated worldwide and already has an audience of viewers and readers. The book was actually something audiences had been requesting for years before it was finally published with the assistance of Savannah, Georgia’s Telfair Museum of Art, which is the oldest public art facility in the American South.