Currently on a ten percent off sale for the summer at a variety of locations, ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love, recently joined the line-up of books featured on the G.R.I.T.S. Online Reading Club for the month of July 2008. A showcase of award-winning art by Luther E. Vann, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Jepson Center in Savannah, Georgia, and writings by well-known author Aberjhani, ELEMENTAL has become one of the most acclaimed gift books on the market since its release in May. The weekly newsmagazine Connect Savannah described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions… a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.” Art critic, author, and collector Ja A. Jahannes called it “A wondrously amazing book.” In addition to ELEMENTAL, other titles featured on G.RI.T.S. include: Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Kapan; When a Man Loves

Following its official launch at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia, on May 29, 2008, critics have started to weigh in on ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love (ISBN 0972114270) a coffee table gift book that showcases the work of acclaimed artist Luther E. Vann and poetry by noted author Aberjhani. Writing in the June 4, 2008 edition of the weekly news entertainment magazine CONNECT Savannah, news editor Linda Sickler described ELEMENTAL as, “a beautiful book…the reproductions of the paintings are outstanding. The poems were inspired by the paintings, and make perfect companions for the reproductions. All in all, Elemental is a real delight and was definitely worth the wait.” In her review of Vann’s exhibit at the Telfair Museum, The highly regarded art critic and painter Bertha Husband described the artist’s work as “real painting” that is “realized in the process of its creation, and the end result can often surprise the painter, himself.” She furth

CTI News Room--West Savannah artist Luther E. Vann became the first Savannah-born African-American artist to have a one-man exhibit at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts when his show opened there April 16, 2008. On May 29, the Jepson Center will host “An Evening with Luther E. Vann and Friends,” an event open to the public from 6-7 p.m. The event will include a presentation by the artist reading from his newly released book, ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love (Soar Publishing); a statement of interpretation of Vann’s work by Dr. Ja A. Jahannes; and other surprise events followed by a book signing. His book is now available at the Jepson Center Gift Shop, telephone (912) 790-8831. “This event,” said Vann, “is very special for many different reasons. For one thing, it represents a major successful effort on behalf of the Telfair Museum, working with the Friends of African-American Arts, to interact more inclusively with Savannah’s African-American community. Secondly

Savannah, Ga.––The Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia, will feature one ground-breaking artist from the present and another from the past when it presents simultaneous exhibits of art by Luther E. Vann and photographs, taken by the late Nickolas Muray, of legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The one-man show of Vann’s work, titled “Elemental,” will be the first by the artist at the Jepson Center and will run from April 16 to August 17, 2008 . The Kahlo exhibit is titled “Through the Lens of Nickolas Muray,” and will run from April 16 to June 15, 2008 . “Kahlo’s imagination and the freedom she allowed herself to express it is what I admire most about her work,” said Vann. “I also appreciate the energy of surrealism that you find in some of her images. The fact that my art is hanging at the same time as Muray’s photographs of her make me feel like I’m in good company and I hope she feels the same way [smiles].” Many of the paintings scheduled to hang in Vann’s “E