The “book” is a mighty big place these days and the current exhibition at MOBIA, “As Subject and Object: Contemporary Book Artists Explore Sacred Hebrew Texts” is no exception.  Highly mobile eBooks compete with online publications and traditionally bound volumes, scrolls, accordion-style tomes and folios that present equally exciting options for contemporary artists to interact with image and text in one unifying medium.  The 14 artists shown here take advantage of many of these possibilities to consider distinctly traditional Hebrew texts.  

Arthur Szyk (1947)  Jacob Steinhardt (1957)  David Wander (2011)
The megillahs beg to be illustrated.  Each is associated with a notable holiday and each presents an idiosyncratic view of Jewish history and experience.  Those that are not overtly narrative cry out to be narrated while the others present the most compelling stories imaginable. 

Such a nice story the Megillah Esther is, don’t you think?  The poor Jews are in exile far from home and get into a bit of trouble with God for not being so careful about theirkashrus.  Their only sin was attending a treif banquet the headstrong King Ahashverous made for the whole kingdom.  And then sweet but unlucky Esther gets rounded up and taken to be the King’s queen.