by John T. Spike (1996)
Called "Angelico" for his inimitable depictions of paradise, this artist (1400?-1455) and Dominican friar succeeded Masaccio as the foremost painter of the early Renaissance in Italy. Fra Angelico's painting has been beloved for centuries since as an emblem of the flowering genius of quattrocento Florence. In his engaging new appraisal, John Spike reveals the unexpectedly innovative qualities of Angelico's art, including his use of linear and geometric perspective (even before the publication of Leon Battista Alberti's famous treatise). Another of Angelico's inventions was the Renaissance altar-piece known as the sacra conversazione (sacred conversation), in which the Virgin and Child and saints, formerly each rigidly enclosed in separate panels, now gesture and relate to each other within a clearly unified space. In this volume Spike presents a major discovery: the secret program of the forty frescoes in the cells of the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence. All previous studies of this artist had concluded that the subjects and arrangement of these frescoes, the artist's masterworks, were chosen at random, or by the friars themselves. Instead, as the author now shows, Fra Angelico drew upon the mystical writings of the early church fathers to construct a spiritual exercise organized into three ascending levels of enlightenment. The San Marco frescoes can finally be seen as not only the most extensive cycle of works by any single painter of this century, but indeed the most complete pictorial expression of Renaissance theology. This essential volume contains an extensive essay on the artist's life and work, followed by large color plates with detailed discussions of individual works. Finally, a catalog presents the artist's oeuvre, as revised by the author's new attributions. With lavish details of Angelico's works and an up-to-date bibliography, this volume is not only a feast for the eyes but an indispensable resource for anyone interested in this critical period of the Renaissance.
T. Oberoi
Oberoi´s Visionary Art is about concealed images. Just think about artists like Vasarely and Magritte, each of whom respectively use the optical effect and the idea to create non-existing dimensions. In this way, Oberoi´s space, structure, and form create a vision - a viewpoint - which gives space to meditation, consideration, and awareness.
William L. Leap
Do gay men communicate with each other differently than they do with straight people? If they do, how is "gay men's English?" different from "straight English"? This work addresses these questions and looks at gay men's English as a cultural and a linguistic phenomenon. This text focuses not on items of vocabulary, word history and folklore but on linguistic practices - co-operation, negotiation and risk-taking - which underlie gay men's conversations, storytelling, verbal duelling, self-description and construction of outrageous references. The author "reads" conversations for covert and overt signs of gay men's English, using anecdotes drawn from gay dinner parties, late-night airplane flights, restaurants, department stores and gourmet shops, and other all-gay and gay/straight settings. He incorporates material from other interviews and discussions with gay men, life-story narratives, gay magazines, newspapers, books and material from his own life. The topics addressed include establishing the gay identities of "suspect gays", recollections of gay childhood, erotic negotiation in health club locker rooms, and gay men's language of AIDS. The text shows how gay English speakers use language to create gay-centred spaces within public places, to protect themselves when speaking with strangers, and to establish common interests when speaking with "suspect gays". It also explores why learning gay English is a critical component in gay men's socialization and the acquisition of gay culture.
Michele Landis Dauber
"The Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea have been depicted as a place of sexual freedom ever since these small atolls in the southwest Pacific were made famous by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the early twentieth century. Today in the era of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, how do Trobrianders respond to public health interventions that link their cultural practices to the risk of HIV? How do they weigh HIV prevention messages of abstinence, fidelity, and condom use against traditional sexual practices that strengthen interclan relationships in a gift economy? Written by an anthropologist who has direct ties to the Trobriands through marriage and who has been involved in Papua New Guinea's national response to the HIV epidemic since the mid-1990s, Islands of Love, Islands of Risk is an unusual insider ethnography. Katherine Lepani describes in vivid detail the cultural practices of regeneration, from the traditional dance called Wosimwaya to the elaborate exchanges that are part of the mortuary feasts called sagali. Focusing on the sexual freedom of young people, the author reveals the social value of sexual practice. By bringing cultural context and lived experience to the fore, the book addresses the failure of standardized public health programs to bridge the persistent gap between HIV awareness and prevention. The book offers insights on the interplay between global and local understandings of gender, sexuality, and disease and suggests the possibility of viewing sexuality in terms other than risk. Islands of Love, Islands of Risk illustrates the contribution of ethnographic research methodology in facilitating dialogue between different ways of knowing. As a contemporary perspective on Malinowski's classic accounts of Trobriand sexuality, the book reaffirms the Trobriands' central place in the study of anthropology. This book is the recipient of the annual Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize for the best project in the area of medicine"--
Vincent H. Resh and Ring T. Card
Publisher's description: The Encyclopedia of Insects is a comprehensive work devoted to all aspects of insects, including their anatomy, physiology, evolution, behavior, reproduction, ecology, and disease, as well as issues of exploitation, conservation, and management. Articles provide definitive facts about all insects from aphids, beetles and butterflies to weevils and yellowjackets. Insects are beautiful and dreadful, ravenous pests and devastating disease vectors, resilient and resistant to eradication, and the source of great benefit and great loss for civilization. Important for ecosystem health, they have influenced the evolution of other life forms on our planet including humans. Anyone interested in insects, from university professors and researchers to high school students preparing a report, will find The Encyclopedia of Insects an indispensable volume for insect information.