Reimagined - by Mark Podwal (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Mark Podwal is today's premiere artist of the Jewish experience, with a prolific portfolio of work lauded by visionaries ranging from Elie Wiesel to Harold Bloom. His paintings and ink-on-paper drawings ... offer profound and nuanced commentary on Jewish tradition, history, and politics. This ... collection brings together the widest selection of Podwal's work ever published"--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art is the first monograph of Podwal's massive collection and take the reader on a journey through a diverse array of works that represent and span the artist's illustrious career. From the whimsical, such as Matzoh Moonand Talmud Typewriter, to the political, such asMunich Massacreand Annexing Arab Anger, to the religious, which includes Passover Haggadahillustrations and textile designs from the world's most historic synagogues, art lovers from New York, Prague, Israel, and everywhere in-between feel an indescribable and mystical connection to Podwal's art. Luxuriously produced and spanning 45 years of intensive work, this collection of Podwal's oeuvre contains more than 350 gorgeously reproduced artworks that imaginatively illuminate Jewish legend, history, and tradition. Reimagined is a must-have not only for collectors of Jewish art, but for anyone interested in the process of creating beautiful and original drawings and the personal evolution of a major artist.

Review Quotes

Mark Podwal's work "celebrates Israel's greening, encompasses dream-like visions of Prague, black-and-white linear journeys into holidays, and both pastel and richly hued mystical icons. One can dip into Podwal's sea of work again and again."--Hadassah Magazine, February 1, 2017

Mark Podwal is one of those startling souls--they are very few--who can imagine, through the power of a unifying eye, connections so new that they shake the brain into fresh juxtapositions of understanding. He can turn a book into a city. He can form limbs of a man out of letters of the alphabet. A menorah, inverted, is all at once shocked into the shape of railroad tracks. A child's noisemaker can become a gallows for the wicked.--Cynthia Ozick, author of The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories "Tablet Magazine "

"[Podwal] examines Jewish history and does so showing the buildings and artifacts of times past but managing to capture what it is that many of us carry within them. He is, naturally showing and telling us, but like all great artists, Podwal makes us feel."--Jacqueline Cutler "NJ Advance "

lavishly illustrated evoke[s] the joys and sorrows of Jewish life over time.--Francine Klagsbrun "The Jewish Week, December 6, 2016 "

In this extended collection, the reader encounters the diverse array of works that represent and span Podwal's illustrious career; from the whimsical, such as Matzoh Moon and Talmud Typewriter, to the political, such as Munich Massacre and Annexing Arab Anger, to the religious, which includes Passover Haggadah illustrations and textile designs from the world's most historic synagogues.--Steven Heller "Print Magazine "

Lyrical, joyous, yet often simultaneously sad, the compilation of drawings and paintings by Mark Podwal in his new book - Reimagined, 45 Years of Jewish Art (Glitterati)- speaks volumes of how the artist views the plights and predicaments of Jews through time and place.--Toby Saltzman "Canadian Jewish News, September 27, 2016 "

Podwal's artistic vision layers witty juxtapositions of Jewish ritual objects and symbols upon deep historical and theological research. So careful is the artist's attention to detail--Menachem Wecker "National Catholic Reporter, November 4th-November 17th 2016 "

Podwal's hand is distinctive. But if it's easy to identify the artist, the viewer is, nonetheless, repeatedly surprised -- by Podwal's imagery and wit and codes of meaning he layers into his work.--Sandee Brawarsky "Jewish Week "

This book is a wonder to behold, especially for lovers of art, books, and Judaica.--Marcia G. Welsh "Library Journal "

...this art can help us "visualize and encourage prayer."--Lil Copan "The Christian Century "

"Podwal employs incisive and often intricate line work to create stark images that reveal vivid emotions and tell complicated stories. Although the drawings' topics are serious ones, his work shows enormous wit and frequently has charming whimsical touches." "Those who take the time to experience the work of both [Elie] Wiesel and [Mark] Podwal may find their response to Podwal's work reminiscent of how they felt after reading Wiesel's Night. Like Wiesel's words, Podwal's art transcends mere images on paper to serve as a witness to the Jewish historical experience."--Marilyn Cooper "Moment Magazine "

"Where Kabbalah and Mad Magazine meet, Mark Podwal is the product."--Anne Roiphe "Forward "

About the Author

Mark Podwal is a celebrated artist whose work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Israel Museum, among many others. He may have been best known initially for his drawings on the New York Times Op-Ed page. In addition, he is the author and illustrator of numerous books. Most of these works--Podwal's own as well as those he has illustrated for others--typically focus on Jewish legend, history, and tradition. In 1995, the French government named Podwal an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. Elie Wiesel is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the author of more than fifty books, both fiction and nonfiction, including his masterly memoir Night. Cynthia Ozick is the author of award-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. A New York Times book review described her as "the most accomplished and graceful literary stylist of our time." Elisheva Carlebach, is a professor of Jewish history, culture, and society at Columbia University who specializes in early modern European Jewish history.