The Rise of Abimelech by Kevin Rolly

4 min read

Deviation Actions

pearwood's avatar
By
Published:
1.4K Views


Says Kevin

When brother turn against brother a society has reached a cultural nadir...

And so it was when Abimelech, the bastard son of Gideon, rose to claim power over Israel.
Gideon had seventy sons. Abimelech was his bastard child to a concubine. He went to the town of Shechem saying,
"Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?' Remember that I am your own flesh and bone."

The leaders of Shechem gave in and gave him money to hire his murderous thugs.
And on a single day, he murdered all seventy of his brothers, on a single stone, in public, and became their ruler.

The shoot for this took place two years ago.
Weeks were spent making the costumes and props.
Weapons were made of bones.
They needed to look at horrifying as possible.

We staged the bloody scene in a long afternoon at our warehouse, BIG ART LABS, in downtown Los Angeles.
But it was this past Sunday that I finally created the piece live.

Evil must always be shown for what it is.
Never glorified, but also never ignored.
Because that's how it endures and grows.

And in 3,000 years, we have not changed.
The book of Judges is just as relevant (or even more so) now that it ever has before....

OILGRAPH ON WOODEN PANEL
36"x48"
Created in live performance April 28, 2013
at THEORY LABS - LOS ANGELES



Steve's suggestions on how to leave a good comment...
  1. Tell the artist what caught your eye, something your particularly liked or didn't like.
  2. Tell the artist something you think they could have done differently or better.
  3. Suggest an alternate title; it tells the artist what you saw in the image.
  4. Interact with the artwork, continue its story.
  5. Ask the artist how or why they did something.
  6. If nothing else, even "Ooh, pretty!" or "Oh, ick!" is a lot more information than no comment at all.
Enjoy!
Pearwood's Feature Log

Blog at PearwoodPhoto.Wordpress.com



Because it's past time for white-haired white men to stand up and say it.
The Heidelberg Catechism , written in 1563, remains a warm-hearted and personal statement of the Christian faith. It begins thusly...

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own,
but belong--
    body and soul,
    in life and in death--
    to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

© 2013 - 2025 pearwood
Comments5
anonymous's avatar
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

I love this. It portrays the fear that Gideon's sons must have felt at the betrayal of Abimelech.