A Glorious Elijah Pierce Exhibit at the Barnes Foundation Brings Us Temptation, Salvation, Grace

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PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
By Thomas Hine
One page of “The Book of Wood,” seven massive relief carvings with 33 scenes depicting parts of Jesus’ life — including Christ knocking at the door and entering Jerusalem. The celebrated work is one massive wooden “book” rests on a lectern with “pages” that turn.
PHILADELPHIA---The new show at the Barnes Foundation is called “Elijah Pierce’s America,” but it could just as easily be “Elijah Pierce’s Cosmos.” In a biblical flood of carved imagery, this barber turned preacher turned wood-carving artist and storyteller shows us heaven, temptation, and grace. The devil fishes for sinners using money, dice, and a scantily clad woman. We see Father Time, shirtless and in shorts, running frantically, his scythe tucked under his arm. We see Richard Nixon being chased by inflation, which looks like a fat and nasty dog. There are elephants, a crocodile, and a couple of Popeyes, one of them Black. God the Father and his son spread grace upon the world, and enslavers use their whips.[More] 
JEFFREY WOLF
Elijah Pierce works on a large-scale sculpture of an elephant in his barber shop studio, Columbus, Ohio, Circa 1970.

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