"There's an inspiring and wacky solemnity in these
organizations-high values reinforced through pageantry and
performance in an ecumenical social setting-which deep down must
also have been a whole lot of fun. Now it's as if that foundational
Other America, that underpinning of the America we know, has
gradually eroded, and here we remain, living in a world that is a
mere shell, a movie set, of the world that made our world manifest,
that brought it into being, and all we have left are these
perplexing masks, banners, and costumes to puzzle over." -David
Byrne, from the foreword Featuring more than two hundred
outstanding objects gathered from private and public collections,
As Above, So Below provides the first comprehensive survey of the
rich vein of art created during the "golden age" of the American
fraternal society. By the turn of the twentieth century, an
estimated 70,000 local lodges affiliated with hundreds of distinct
American fraternal societies claimed a combined five and a half
million members. It has been estimated that at least 20 percent of
the American adult male population belonged to one or more
fraternal orders, including the two largest groups, the Freemasons
and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The esoteric knowledge,
visual symbols, and moral teachings revealed to lodge brothers
during secret rituals inspired an abundant and expressive body of
objects that form an important facet of American folk art. Lynne
Adele and Bruce Lee Webb introduce the reader to fraternal
societies and explore the function and meaning of fraternal
objects, including paintings and banners, costumes and ceremonial
regalia, ritual objects, and an array of idiosyncratic objects that
represent a grassroots response to fraternalism. Setting the art in
historical context, the authors examine how fraternal societies
contributed to American visual culture during this era of
burgeoning fraternal activity. Simultaneously entertaining and
respectful of the fraternal tradition, As Above, So Below opens
lodge room doors and invites the reader to explore the compelling
and often misunderstood works from the golden age of fraternity,
once largely forgotten and now coveted by collectors.
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