Not Flesh nor Feathers

Not Flesh nor Feathers
John Jude Palencar

Artist Biography
Acquisition Number: 2017.7
Medium: Acrylic on rag board
Size: 16 5/8” X 19 3/8”
Date: 2006/2007
Credit: Purchased by the Canton Museum of Art

John Jude Palencar specializes in works of fantasy, science fiction, and horror — the surreal and magical. "Not Flesh nor Feathers" was the cover art for the book by the same name by author Cherie Priest. This is the third and final book in a three-book series, about the ghost of a slave taking revenge on the descendants of a plantation owner. The book description for "Not Flesh Nor Feathers" gives us a deeper understanding of the painting: "...Deep beneath the riverbank, the evidence of a terrible crime has been covered up twice. When a TVA dam falters and the river swells, panic rises downtown. As the Tennessee creeps over its banks, it dredges up death from its own polluted bed. Twenty-nine victims of a long-ago slaughter walk when the water rises, patrolling the banks and dragging the living down to a muddy grave. No one remembers how they died and no one knows what they want. They wait for the water to lift them so they can prowl for the justice that was denied them ninety years ago. But in ninety years a city's shape changes, and where justice can no longer be found, vengeance may have to suffice."