BOOKWORK 3: In the Shadow of the Cross

BOOKWORK 3: In the Shadow of the Cross

In February 2019, a collection of 60 bookworks by the sociologist-artist Jan K Coetzee was exhibited in Everard Read Gallery’s CIRCA in Johannesburg. The bookworks bring sculpted and found objects into a dialogue with old books to reflect something of the wider social, cultural and historical structures and refrains of our times. The full collection is featured in Coetzee’s book ‘Books & Bones & Other Things’ (SUN PRESS 2018).

The bookwork ‘In the Shadow of the Cross’ consists of two carved and hand-painted figurines depicting the parents of the baby Jesus bringing him to an altar on which a crucifix is laid.

The book featured in this bookwork, and published in 1741, is ‘Considerationes Christianae’ (Christian Meditations) by Revered Father Francis Nepveu of the Jesuits. It contains Christian meditations for each day of a particular year. It was printed by the widow of the publisher Matthias Reidlin, Maria Magdalene Reidlin, in Munich. The publication was financed by the widow of Johann Andrea de la Haye, an academic bookseller. The size of the book is 16.5cm long by 10.7cm wide and it is 6.3cm thick. It contains 1038pages plus an extensive index. The book is bound in brown leather. The condition of the book is good.

The installation is on a teak tray and contained within an acrylic museum case. In addition to its artistic appeal, this bookwork makes for a meaningful piece in any private or public library.

A signed copy of the book ‘Books & Bones & Other Things’ (2018, SUN PRESS: Bloemfontein, 212pp), stitch-bound in hard cover, accompanies this bookwork. The bookwork is fully illustrated and documented on pp. 103-105 of this book.

Jan K Coetzee dedicated his working life to academia. At the age of 31, in 1979, he became a Professor of Sociology at the (then) University of the Orange Free State, then moved to Rhodes University where he spent 23 years as Professor and Head of the Department Sociology. He returned to the University of the Free State as Senior Professor in 2011. He initiated and directs the programme ‘The Narrative Study of Lives and Documents of Life’. He has published more than 70 scientific articles in accredited and international journals and authored/co-authored more than 20 book publications. He received the Vice-Chancellor’s Book Award in 2002 at Rhodes University for his books ‘Plain Tales from Robben Island’ and ‘Fallen Walls’. His latest book, published in 2019, is ‘Narrating the Everyday’ (with Asta Rau).