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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Roger Wagner



Roger Wagner. b.1957
The Harvest Is the End of the World and the Reapers Are the Angels, 1984.
Oil on canvas.
23 x 32 inches.
Private collection.


These drawings of angels were made into woodcuts and included in Wagner`s first book of poems, entitled Fire Sonnets, published by the Besalel Press in 1984

He depicts a world transfigured by the presence of God and his angels:

And in that summer evening's fading light
I saw his angels gather in the wheat:
Like beaten gold their beauty smote the air
And tongues of flame were streaming in their hair

He has also produced illustrations for a new translation for the Second Book of the Psalms. Below is the painting for Psalm 46.

Roger Wagner. b.1957
Psalm 46
There is a River
Oil on panel
19 x 15cm
Private collection


God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.


Roger Wagner`s website is here.

See also the exhibition of his work in Oxford.

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