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There is something pastoral about the pieces on display in the Oman gallery, located in Romema, Jerusalem- deep in the “Hareidi” (Ultra Orthodox) quarters behind the central bus station. This community center inspires.
Oman is an arts training program whose goal it is to help mobilize the talents of the female Israeli ultra-orthodox community. Its uniqueness lies in its population, and taking a look at the collection of works the students produce reveals an internal creative life of a community that doesn’t generally have a stage. Recently, the school featured alumni work in a show titled “Hefetzâ€, a word with myriad meanings including object, wish, desire, delight, thing, wanting, and willing.
The innocence of the show is striking. The classical style paintings give reverence to moments of simplicity. A young girl braids her hair. A lace cloth napkin is painted as if leftover on a table after a Sabbath meal. The Jerusalemite Grandmother, in her cotton tunic and head covering, reads by daylight flowing from her porch. As an observer, I feel like I am wandering through a community of another century.
These works reveal a merging of old and new worlds. The three-dimensional works exemplify this better than other pieces, as a breaking from the traditional aesthetics reveal personal stories. One striking sculpture is a wire mesh figure wearing only the remnant draping of a wedding train. Slightly bent, exposed and translucent, it makes us wonder if this bride is the aftermath or the attempts at reweaving new beginnings. A copper Jewelry piece of a mother whose stroller is about her size hangs on hinges from a necklace chain and doesn’t stop moving. An impressive paper cutting, a traditional Judaic technique usually used in two dimensional work, builds a thigh high white palace sculpture called “So will be done to the man who finds favor in the Kings eyes,” taken from the story of Purim.
Similarly, the photography plays with light is like an attempt at revealing G-d through the lens. The image of branches blowing their gold leaves in the wind, the close up image of steps highlighted by sun and browned leaves, and the overexposed photograph of a woman in prayer all reflect on the small movements of spirit.
Rivkah Vardi, the director of the school, explained how the majority of the women come to learn art for the sake of art, contradicting the misnomer that traditional Jewish art is generally “practical†or ritual. To many women who come to study here, art is a means to express the soul. Hence, in the artwork a sense of serenity prevails.
What is most impressive in this show is what isn’t here. There is no attempt at “outdoing†art history, a popular contemporary motif from those who have studied it deeply. Further, there is no talk of politics, neither to the right nor to the left, as one finds in much of contemporary art in Israel. In its place is creativity as a pure tool to talk about the soul and turn the inside out. Some may say that the work is too “antique” for the contemporary art world. Others will say that it is a revival of a raw and meaningful form of the arts.
- In: Exhibition Reviews
- Tags: Israel
Prophecy of Place: Quintan Ana Wikswo
13 Sep2011
Triptych Panel: SS Forced-Sex Brothel at Dachau, 2011
Quintan Ana Wikswo
Prophecy of Place: photographs, poetry, video and assemblage
August 14, 2011 – February 15, 2012
Opening Event:
Monday, September 12 | 6–9pm
Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.cjh.org/
www.quintanwikswo.com
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- In: Events
- Tags: Mixed Media, Museums, NYC
Call for Entries: Song of the Land
12 Sep2011
Annual Juried Exhibition by the Jewish Women Artists Network, a special interest group within the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA)
Song of the Land
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
Jack H. Skirball Campus
3077 University Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90007
January 20 – May 31, 2012
Meet the Artists Reception: Thursday, February 23, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Exhibition Statement: Song of the Land
We learn from Genesis, 43:11, the historical awareness and significance of the land, its produce and its sanctity. Jacob sent his son Joseph a gift of fruits, nuts and honey from home through his brothers when they went to see him in Egypt. Liturgy refers to these crops of the Earth as zimrat ha’aretz, the song of the land.
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- In: Call for Entries
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Hosted by the Aleph Society’s Global Day of Jewish Learning, RAVSAK, the Jewish Art Salon and Jewish Art Now.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL DAY OF JEWISH LEARNING
The 2011 Global Day of Jewish Learning will focus on the unity of the Jewish people through the words of the Shema Yisrael, the quintessential Jewish prayer. Last year’s inaugural Global Day of Jewish Learning celebrated the completion of the Steinsaltz Talmud and counted over 400 communities in 48 countries and six continents. On Nov 13th, 2011, the second annual Global Day of Jewish Learning will unite Jewish communities through the study of sacred text.
ABOUT “GLOBAL/LOCALâ€
Building upon the success of the 2010 Global Day, we are excited to announce a new partnership between the Global Day of Jewish Learning, RAVSAK, the Jewish Art Salon and Jewish Art Now. “Global/Local†will be a virtual online gallery, accessible to all Global Day Communities. The featured work will reflect the diversity of the participating communities.
PROSPECTUS
We invite submissions that explore the Shema. In order to prepare students on the different aspects of the Shema, we have included a new class prepared for the Global Day of Jewish Learning, Shema: An Introduction & Overview which can used with students prior to them beginning their artwork. (Note: the class also includes a facilitator’s guide.)
All two and three dimensional media is acceptable; video is not. Because the final show will be projected, not hung, your digital documentation is very important. Please pay close attention to the digital formatting specifications and make sure the images you send present your work to its best effect.
Eligibility: All Jewish High School Students
Application: Deadline: October 16th, 2011
Selection Notification: October 10th, 2011
Opening: November 13th, 2011 at all participating Global Day communities worldwide.
TO APPLY
1. Fill out the electronic Application Form here. Additional forms can be found at: www.jewishartsalon.com/p/jas-calls-for-art.html
2. Email 1-2 examples of your work to sjasalon@gmail.com. Each file should be a JPG file, 300 dpi. The file names should take the format: LastName_FirstName_1.jpg. Please put “ HS Global Day Submission_Last Name, First Name†as the subject of the email.
JURORS
Yona Verwer is an artist and president of the Jewish Art Salon. Chava Evans is a freelance illustrator and artist who lives and works in Baltimore MD. Elke Reva Sudin is an artist and executive director of Jewish Art Now.
For more information on the Global Day of Jewish Learning and how to get your community involved visit www.theglobalday.com. For more information about our art partners
visit www.jewishartnow.com and www.jewishartsalon.com.
- In: Call for Entries
LA Six Point Fellows Announced!
7 Sep2011
The Six Points Fellowship announces their LA fellows, including our very own William Deutsch, LA coordinator for Jewish Art Now!
The Six Points Fellowship supports artists working in the areas of music, performing arts, media arts and visual arts that are involved with diverse and innovative projects that tackle significant Jewish issues.
Full list of LA fellows:Â Nina T. Becker (Jonas), Will Deutsch, Jessie Kahnweiler, Sasha Perry, Paul Ratner, Corrie Siegel, Kristen Smiarowski, Tali Tadmor and Yelena Zhelezov.
The Fellowship officially begins in November 2011. Over the course of the two-year Fellowship, the artists will present their work through exhibitions, concerts, performances and public installations throughout Los Angeles. Their projects range from a film exploring the true story of a Jewish Indian Chief, to a dance about historic memory of the Holocaust, to a Yiddish Swing Cabaret entitled “Ella Fitzgeraldberg.â€
Will Deutsch’s project “Notes from the Tribe” will be a series of illustrations depicting various Jewish traditions and biblical characters, inspired by the golden age of cartooning.
Learn about the artists and check out more at http://sixpointsfellowship.org/
Opening Reception
September 8
6 – 8pm ~ Artist’s Talk: 7pm
Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art Gallery Hours
Monday – Thursday: 10:00am-4:00pm
Friday: 10:00am-2:00pm
(And by appointment)
Hours are subject to change: please call 215-627-6747 to confirm
Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
615 North Broad Street (at Mount Vernon)
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Entrance and parking on Mount Vernon Street
Exhibit Organized by Wendi Furman, Director of PMJA
- In: Events
- Tags: Museums, Philadelphia
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Jewish Art Now invites you to My Magic Carpet, recent works by Siona Benjamin. Presented by The Flomenhaft Gallery in Chelsea, NYC.
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 15, 2011
6-8pm
Flomenhaft Gallery
547 W. 27th Street, Suite 200
New York, NY
www.flomenhaftgallery.com
Nechama Golan
Art Exhibition: Matronita-Jewish Feminist Art
Museum of Art, Ein Harod
Mishkan Le’Omanut
January 27 – April 1 2012
An exhibition of contemporary Jewish women’s art focusing on Feminist Jewish topics.
Matronita (Talmudic term for an important woman) will examine feminist consciousness in the Jewish world. The status of women in Judaism and the need to expand women’s spiritual, ritual, intellectual and political opportunities have become central issues in the Jewish world, generating debate and activism for the past 40 years. The works which will be presented in this show are born of that ferment.
The notion of transnational feminism was extended by the pivotal “Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art” exhibition, curated by Linda Nochlin and Maura Reiley at the Brooklyn Museum in 2007. It put forward the idea that we cannot expect feminism to retain the same meaning and to operate the same way in different cultures. That exhibition examined women’s artworks against the background of the specific cultures in which they were created. The 80 women artists exhibited represented a very diverse spectrum of cultures and backgrounds. A knowledgeable appreciation of each artist’s milieu was crucial for understanding her work.
Our exhibition will present productions of religious feminist artists belonging to the Modern Orthodox community. These artists are informed by feminist art and gender discourse, but also by traditional Judaism. They belong to the Orthodox Judaism milieu and can be better appreciated against that background.
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‘The World is a Room’ exhibition opening in LA
26 Aug2011
This Sunday, Jewish Artist Initiative members Marcie Kaufman & Will Deutsch are having a joint exhibition at USC Hillel in LA.
Sunday, August 28, from 2-5 pm
At USC Hillel – 3300 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles
Parking available at Hebrew Union College – 3077 University Ave.
Parking is off of Hoover between 30 and 32nd St
The exhibition will run from August 15th to November 10th.
- In: Events
- Tags: Illustration, LA, Painting