Tonight: Miss Wu, Heavenly Bodies, and Crystal Radio Live!

TONIGHT, 8-11PM:
As seen in the L.A. Weekly! Dr. Paul Koudounaris opens his exhibition, Heavenly Bodies, and signs his latest book of the same title (as well as his previous tome, The Empire of Death). The story behind the photographs in this exhibition seems custom made for the Dia de los Muertos. Admission is free, refreshments will be served (while supplies last), and the pieces are available for purchase by contacting the gallery director at (323) 666-7667 or info[at]laluzdejesus[dot]com.



Also opening a new exhibition is Miss Christine Wu, whose Coming Home is already more than half-way sold out. Christine's oil paintings capture people in transition, making a statement about the temporary importance of our fleeting lives. A few months back, Daniel Rolnick caught up with Miss Wu mid-collaboration with master print-maker Ryan McIntosh.



Performing live this evening will be musical guests Crystal Radio, featuring Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia of Blind Devine, whose sound is reminiscent of a haunted western about ghosts and dreams, as scored by Ennio Morricone and directed by David Lynch–which should compliment the evening perfectly.





Daniel Martin Diaz will be signing his own latest book, Soul of Science, on Saturday, November 2nd, 4-7 PM.



Signed and personalized copies of Soul of Science as well as Anatomy of Sorrow,  Thirty-One Drawings & Thirty-One Days,  Mysterium Fidei, and La Luz de Jesus 25 (which Billy and Matt will be happy to sign as well) can be pre-ordered by calling the bookstore at (323) 663-0122 or emailing sales[at]soapplant[dot]com.

Empire of Death Book & Photo Exhibit Tonight!

Artist Reception & Book Signing:
Saturday, September 24th; 7-10 PM
Special DJ performance by Don Bolles
(The Germs, Celebrity Skin)

For centuries, religious establishments constructed decorated ossuaries and charnel houses from human bone. These unique structures which stand as masterpieces of art have been pushed into the footnotes of history; they were part of a dialogue with death that is now silent.

In 2006, Dr. Paul Koudounaris who two years earlier completed a PhD in Art History at UCLA, found a research topic which would preoccupy the next four years of his existence. Koudounaris’ interest in the bizarre and suspicious led him to an extraordinary charnel house in the crypt under the Church of Sts Peter and Paul in the Czeck Republic town of Melnik. Unlike the “Bone Church” in nearby Sedlec, it was gritty and dirty, not for tourists and even unknown by most locals, but contained an arrangement of bones that reflected both a beauty in artistic principles and an understanding of philosophy and theology. Upon discovering that the local hostel receptionist had no idea of its existence, Dr. Koudounaris set his sights on discovering how many more of these charnel houses might still be standing.

Dr. Koudounaris eventually visited researched and photographed charnel houses on four continents - plus countless others he found in historic documents, grande dames which had fallen by the wayside of the passing centuries. They are presented in the book The Empire of Death which, with detailed photos and text not only recovers their history, but the history of the religious movement which gave birth to them. This is not a book about the macabre or death. It is a book about beauty and salvation.

In this tour de force of original cultural history, Dr. Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. The sites in this brilliantly original study range from the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Palermo, where the living would visit mummified or skeletal remains and lovingly dress them, to the Paris catacombs, to elaborate bone-encrusted creations in Austria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere. Koudounaris photographed and analyzed the role of these remarkable memorials within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable human endeavor with 250 full-color and 50 black-and-white photographs in a beautifully bound leather covered book. Books are available for $50.00 each while supplies last.

Click here for access to the online gallery of photographs available for purchase.