MORAGA, CA.- The Hearst Art Gallery presents Sandow Birk's Paradiso, the third installment of a remarkable update on Dante Alighieri's early 14th century epic poem about the human condition, through February 27, 2005. Birk, a southern California artist, collaborated with Surfline web editor and Surfing Magazine writer Marcus Sanders to infuse Dante's text with a contemporary urban vernacular. Saint Mary's College professor Brother Michael Meister, FSC, who has collected and computerized more than 50 different English-language translations of the Divine Comedy over the years, provided scholarly guidance with the re-working of the three canticles.

Birk's paintings, drawings and lithographs are infused with satire, political content, humor, and irony. The Inferno, set in Los Angeles, and the Purgatorio, set in San Francisco, have each been widely acclaimed during exhibitions in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Paradiso is set primarily in New York City.

In addition to rendering the language of the poem into a contemporary American English vernacular, Birk's illustrations pay homage to the work of the venerable 19th century illustrator, Gustave Dore. A first edition of Dore's Divine Comedy from the Saint Mary's College collection will be on view for the first time in the new exhibition.

Birk is a recipient of Fulbright, Getty, and Guggenheim Fellowships and National Endowment for the Arts grants. He is represented by Koplin Del Rio Gallery in Los Angeles, Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, and PPOW in New York; his work is in the permanent collections of the di Rosa Preserve in Napa, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, and the New York Historical Society.

Paradiso contains 3 new paintings and 71 original drawings and lithographs. The third hand-made book, this one bound in white leather with gold stamping, has been printed by master printer David Salgado, and published by Trillium Press in an edition of 100. The book will be available in early 2005, followed by a trade edition, published by Chronicle Books.

A series of closing week events with Birk and Sanders will be held Thursday evening, Feb. 24, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 27, and Monday evening, Feb. 28. Specific information will be announced at a later date.

About Inferno - Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders adapted Inferno, the first canticle of the Divine Comedy. In addition to rendering the language of the poem into a contemporary American English vernacular, Birk has also re-interpreted 19th century illustrator, Gustave Dore's, drawings. The text is accompanied by 71 of Birk's original lithographic images, which locate hell in contemporary, urban areas, including downtown Los Angeles. The hand-signed, continuous tone, lithographic images are drawn with an ink-filled drafting pen to create intricate cross-hatching and fine lines. The book is bound in dark red leather with gold stamping. It is the first book in the trilogy. All of the images for the book were hand drawn by the Birk who worked with Master Printer, David Salgado, to print and publish Inferno at Trillium Press. The edition is 100 (plus a number of proofs). The book contains introductions by Doug Harvey and Brother Michael Meister, FSC.