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CINCINNATI—The Cincinnati Art Museum presents The Book of Only Enoch, an exhibition that features Jay Bolotin’s portfolio of 20 prints made from a combination of woodcut and relief etching, with 13 seminal drawings, coupled with his original film The Jackleg Testament, Part I: Jack & Eve. All are on view from September 24–March 12, 2016.

The prints of The Book of Only Enoch narrate the tale of Only Enoch, the son of the only Jewish coal miner in Kentucky. Only Enoch is named after an apocryphal book left out of the Hebrew Testament.

“The original Book of Enoch is the story of a human who was able to spy upon angels and live to tell the tale,” says Bolotin. “My book, and my protagonist, is a re-imagined version of this, set in the Kentucky of my childhood.”

The Jackleg Testament, Part I: Jack and Eve is his acclaimed “woodcut motion picture” in which he creates an original narrative — an alternative version of the story of Adam and Eve, in which Jack (the mannequin inside of the toy called a Jack-In-The-Box) takes the place of Adam.

Winner of “Best Animation” at the 2007 Santa Fe Film Festival, this motion picture was created entirely using his woodblock prints. Bolotin also wrote the operatic score, which features the voices of Cincinnati’s own Karin Bergquist (of the band Over the Rhine), one of England’s premiere lyric tenors, Nigel Robson, and the celebrated German bass-baritone Monte Jaffe. It features the solo violin of Paul Patterson from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

An acclaimed multi-media artist, Bolotin has developed an interest for working in film, literature, music and theatre. As in William Blake’s marriage of poetry and visual imagery, Bolotin also creates a magnificent story, believing, as he says, “Myth is not something relegated to the past, but is around us every day.”

He is from Fayette County, Kentucky, and has had work in many public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Contemporary Museum of Art San Diego, Smith College Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

The Book of Only Enoch and The Jackleg Testament, Part I: Jack & Eve will be on view in The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Gallery and the Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell Galleries (G124 and 125). General admission to the museum and admission to this exhibition is free.

Bolotin will speak about his work with Cincinnati Art Museum Curator Kristin Spangenberg on September 22 from 7–8 p.m., in the Fath Auditorium. Learn about Bolotin’s fascinating and unique artistic process that combines printmaking, music and animation. Tickets are free for museum members. Reservations required. Purchase tickets at cincinnatiartmuseum.org or call 513-721-ARTS.

About the Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members.

General admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is always free. The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

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