“…an excellent example of the extent to which Gnosticism has infused the public domain… the Gnostic Friends Network… contains some astounding artwork by “Rev Max,” the Reverend Maximus Illuminatus. On this website are… original, graphic, powerful, sexually explicit and often shocking scenes that incisively and perceptively rework Gnostic (and Christian) themes. Through the medium of graphic art, Rev Max engages in an intertextual dialogue with ancient texts AND contemporary culture. To me, this intertextuality is the larger context for… Eco’s novel (Foucault’s Pendulum), The Matrix – and other recent films. Rev Max’s art calls for us to reexamine the CULTURAL RECEPTION of contemporary Gnosticism AND the ways in which Gnosticism is translated into popular media, ESPECIALLY VISUAL CULTURE.”1
- Flannery-Dailey, Frances. “GNOSTICISM AND THE ARTS.” National Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature; Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section. 14 November, 2004. [↩]
