In this exhibition there are twelve suras (chapters) on view, out of 114 in total, which are commonly arranged according to length rather than by chronological order. Birk transcribes the English-translated Qur’an using hand-lettered script inspired by the American graffiti writers of his surrounding Los Angeles neighborhood and follows the traditional formatting of the color inks and design of each passage. He then illustrates each sura with visual interpretations of the text, bridging the gap between the ancient lessons and everyday American life with painted vignettes such as grocery shopping, fashion shoots, surfing, house fires, landscaping, basketball, operation rooms and airports. Birk’s compositions mix contemporary form with that of Persian miniature painting and medieval manuscripts, which he has traveled the globe researching for over a decade. He has done extensive research at the Institut du Monde Arab in Morocco, the Cité International des Artes in Paris, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, and at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin which houses one of the largest collections of hand-illuminated Qur’ans in the world.