The Artist Alive (explorations in music, art & theology)

May 2019

In uscita nel mese di maggio 2019 il nuovo libro dello scrittore, professore e teologo americano Christopher Pramuk: "The Artist Alive".
Al progetto ha collaborato anche l'artista Pasquale Rapicano al quale è stato chiesto il permesso di utilizzare l'immagine di una sua opera pittorica per la realizzazione della copertina del libro.


I’ve just been reviewing the final proofs of a new book manuscript that has been many (many!) years in the making. The book rises from my own spiritual journey and above all from the classroom, where for some 25 years I’ve looked with my students to music, poetry, and the visual arts as windows into the deepest spiritual, theological, and social questions that face us. It has been a privilege to work with folks at Anselm Academic, who specialize in producing outstanding texts for use in the undergraduate classroom. I can say gratefully that their exhaustive editorial process has yielded a far better manuscript than when we began our partnership some 4 or 5 years ago. Our expected publication date is May 15, 2019.

Below you’ll find a partial cover image, table of contents, and a first endorsement of the book from Dr. Kimberly Vrudny, Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Thomas University. Dr. Vrudny is also the editor of the journal ARTS: The Arts in Religious and Theological Studies, one of the finest interdisciplinary theological journals anywhere on the planet. I’m very grateful for the time she took in reading the manuscript and for her generous endorsement, as well as those that follow by iconographer William Hart McNichols and Fordham professor Thomas Beaudoin.

The cover painting is by the Italian artist Pasquale Rapicano, entitled, “Rust (David Gilmour Live at Pompeii).” The image somehow captures for me the human yearning for transcendence and grace that I have discovered in music since my childhood, not least in the artistry of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. I am very grateful to Rapicano for the permission to use and to share his beautiful work.