Bird’s Head Haggadah Revealed - Richard McBee on Marc Michael Epstein

By: Richard McBee

Published: March 29th, 2012

 

Bird’s Head Haggadah Revealed 
The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative & Religious Imagination. 

By Marc Michael Epstein, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2011

The Dura Europos synagogue murals (245 CE) evidenced the first great flowering of Jewish visual creativity, quickly followed by the creation of at least 17 synagogue mosaic floors in Palestine. The next efflorescence of Jewish art was found in illuminated manuscript production in Spain and Germany over 600 years later. In The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative & Religious Imagination (2011), Marc Michael Epstein explores four seminal medieval Haggadot as paradigms of the creative relationship between sacred text and the Jewish visual imagination. 

Continue article here 

Kadosh opening March 22

Tobi Kahn

The opening night of the art exhibit Kadosh at Ramath Orah in New York was a success.  Curators Tobi Kahn and Ellen Singer put together an intriguing selection of art works.


All enjoyed the opening comments by Tobi Kahn and Rabbi Berman.

Yona Verwer, David Friedman, Richard McBee

Participating artists: David Friedman, Ahuva Mantell, Richard McBee, Rochelle Rubinstein, and Yona Verwer.

For photos see here and here

Dura Europos Project II at UJA New York

UJA-Federation of New York features

The Dura Europos Project: An Ancient Site Interpreted Through 21st Century Eyes

  This exhibit is a project of the Jewish Art Salon.

Exhibit on view till June 11, 2012.

By appointment only. Email Rachmanskya@ujafedny.org for access.

Guest Speakers March 27

Richard McBee and Joel Silverstein, Curators, Jewish Art Salon.

Yona Verwer, President, Jewish Art Salon

UJA-Federation of New York 

130 East 59th Street, Seventh-Floor (Park and Lexington Ave). New York, NY

   25 Works of art by the following artists: 

Siona Benjamin, Chava Evans, David K. Friedman, Tobi Kahn, Robert Kirschbaum, Batya F. Kuncman, Howard Lerner, Judith Margolis, Richard McBee, Jacob Mizrahi, Eden Morris, Ellen Deitell Newman, Natan Nuchi, Archie Rand, Cynthia Beth Rubin, Debbie Schore, Janet Shafner, Adele Shtern, Joel Silverstein, Renata Stein, Elke Reva Sudin, Deborah Ugoretz, Yona Verwer, David Wander, Ahron D. Weiner.

Click on square below to start slide show

Slide show courtesy of Ellen D. Newman and Ahron D. Weiner

About the Exhibit

Painted around 245 C.E., the Dura Europos synagogue murals illustrate a series of popular Torah narratives and are among the earliest attempts to depict literary biblical stories through visual form.

Destroyed by the Persians in 256 C.E., the Roman town of Dura, on the edge of the Euphrates River, was forgotten until the British accidentally uncovered it in 1920. The murals, which now hang in the National Museum of Damascus in Syria, became the inspiration for an exhibition conceived by the Jewish Art Salon, which invited its members to create their own interpretation based on the subjects and concepts found in the ancient murals. In making contact with art from more than 1,700 years ago, the result was a modern commentary, expressing a contemporary perspective with the past as its muse.

  Curators: Richard McBee and Joel Silverstein.

 

First shown at Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art in 2010, this exhibit features a curated selection from the Philadelphia show, organized by Wendi Furman and the Jewish Art Salon.

Kadosh - Art Exhibit curated by Tobi Kahn & Ellen Singer

Opening Thursday March 22nd, 7PM
Opening remarks by Rabbi Saul Berman and Tobi Kahn.

Participating Artists: David Friedman, Ahuva Mantell, Richard McBee, Rochelle Rubinstein, Yona Verwer.

March 20 - 26, 2012. 

Ramath Orah:

550 West 110th Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave, NY NY 10025

Trains: # 1 to 110th Street. Exit near intersection of W 110TH ST and Broadway. Walk east 2 minutes. Bus: # 104 to Broadway.

Jewish Art History by Richard McBee

JEWISH ART HISTORY THIS JANUARY

At THE DERFNER JUDAICA MUSEUM, Riverdale NY

This Five-Part Primer on Jewish Art Continues through January with Richard McBee

Join Richard McBee for any or all of this series of classes on Jewish art history. “Murals, Mosaics, and Manuscript Illumination (250 CE to 16th century)” on Jan. 5 will explore the very beginnings of Jewish art with the Dura Europos murals, the synagogue mosaic floors from Roman and Byzantine Palestine, and the Golden Age of Jewish illuminated manuscripts from the 11th to 15th centuries. Then on Jan. 12, “Books, Manuscripts, and the Dawn of Jewish Painting (16th to 20th century)” will trace how the invention of the printing press revolutionized Jewish life and literacy, especially the illustrated Haggadah, as well as, on a much more modest scale, the renewal of illuminated manuscripts in the 17th century. On Jan. 19, “Modernism and Israeli Art – The 20^th Century” looks at how, as modernity revolutionized traditional Jewish life, Jewish artists explored the complexities of art, Judaism, and Zionism inPalestine and Europe. The last session on Jan. 26, “Contemporary Jewish Art (1950 - 2011),” often considered an oxymoron by secular and religious Jews alike, shows how Jewish art has slowly grown from practitioners in total denial about the Jewish content of their work to blossoming groups of artists proudly proclaiming the vibrant creativity of a new contemporary Jewish Art.

Events at the Derfner Museum's Women of the Balcony

Jane Trigere

The Derfner Museum in Riverdale NY currently features Jane Trigère’s installation, Women of the Balcony.

Upcoming programs:

• December 26, 2011, 1 PM. Poet Maxine Silverman will lead a poetry and memoir writing workshop exploring themes such as home, refuge and femininity inspired by Jane Trigère’s installation, Women of the Balcony. More info here.

• Jewish Art History. A Four-Part Class with Richard McBee. 

  Join McBee for a series of classes in Jewish Art History. Continues each Thursday in January at 2.30 PM. More info here.

Archie Rand: Three Major Works

By Richard McBee

Hayei Sarah (1989),  Archie Rand

The Jewish Press, November 24, 2011

On one level we all have the same glorious inheritance. The Torah in its largest sense, along with the voluminous Oral Tradition in the Talmud, its commentaries and elaborations, make the Jewish artist the richest creative person imaginable.  However, there are crucial distinctions in how we use this inheritance.  British philosopher Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) famously distinguishes between creative thinkers who are like either a “hedgehog” and those who are “foxes.”  Ah, there’s the rub!

Article continues here:
http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/arts/archie-rand-three-major-works/2011/11/24/

In addition Archie Rand is featured in MICHAEL STOLER: "Building New York - New York Life Stories". CUNY TV, Channel 75 Time Warner, Channel 77 RCN.
The show will continue to air: Saturday 11/26 at 12 Noon and 12:30 AM, Sunday 11/27 at 6 PM. See video here.

Shapiro's Midrash

Copyright Brian Shapiro

Brian Shapiro - Paintings and drawings from 40 Years.  
Opening December 1, 5:30-7:30  
Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford CT

Hours:  Tues, Weds, Fri 11:-6:00, Th. 11:-4:, Sat. 11:-4.

Exhibited will be paintings and drawings from several series from Shapiro's 40 year career including, Wisconsin Workers, Hollywood, New York Scenes, Santa Barbara, Israel and American Jewish Life. http://www.charteroakcenter.org/index.php/2011/12/brian-shapiro/

Richard McBee's review of Shapiro's work: "Shapiro's Midrash": http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/arts/shapiro’s-midrash/2011/11/12/

Divine Encounter And The Sacred Doorway

Akedah #45 (2008-2009) Mixed media on paper

Robert Kirschbaum's paintings reviewed by Richard McBee  

Robert Kirschbaum: Small Paintings from The Akedah Series.

The Gallery at Three Rivers: Three Rivers Community College.

November 1 - December 2, 2011

Artist Talk November 9, 4PM, Opening Reception 5-7PM.

Photo courtesy Robert Kirschbaum

Our encounters with the Divine are precious moments of personal religiosity.  We believe that when we pray we are speaking directly to God and that at that moment we are in the Divine presence.  And yet we are seldom conscious of the awe and fear we should also feel. 

For many, at the core of Jewish monotheism is terror.  Its source is in Chapter 22 of Genesis, the story known as the Binding of Yitzchak.  God's faithful servant, Avraham, has been ordered to take his beloved 37-year-old son, (a child he had at the miraculous age of 100) and offer him as a sacrifice.   After a three-day journey Avraham has bound his son Yitzchak, placed him on the altar and has grasped the knife to follow God's command.  At the very last moment an angel calls out, "Avraham, Avraham do not stretch out your hand against the lad nor do anything to him."

Article continues here: http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/arts/divine-encounter-and-the-sacred-doorway-2/2011/10/26/0/

"Ushpizin" Art Project at the JTS, NYC

JTS artist-in-residence, Tobi Kahn, has initiated a 5-year art project for its sukkah.
Each year a number of artists will be invited to paint a plexi-glass plaque in honor of one of the female ushpizin (Aramaic for "guests).

The JTS Adele Ginzberg Women's League Sukkah features the works of 7 artists: Aryeh Davidson, Gregory Gilbert, and Jewish Art Salon members Rachel Kanter, Richard Mcbee, Arlene Sokolow, Debbie Ugoretz and Yona Verwer.

Robert Kirschbaum - Small Paintings from the Akedah Series

Robert Kirschbaum's art exhibit "Small Paintings from The Akedah Series."

November 1 - December 2, 2011

Artist's talk:  Wednesday, November 9, 4:00-5:00 PM;  
Gallery Reception Wednesday, November 9th, 5 - 7 PM.

The Gallery at Three Rivers. 
Three Rivers Community College, 574 New London Turnpike, Norwich, CT 06360. More Info


Review by Richard McBee:
http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/50162/

Robert Kirschbaum, “Akedah Series, #52," 2009. Mixed media on paper, 9” x 8”.

Dismissed - Richard McBee's take on Rosh HaShanah

Rembrandt Pen & Ink

HAGAR AND ROSH HASHANAH

By: Richard McBee
Tuesday, September 27 2011

"After these things, God tested Avraham (Genesis 22:1).  What things? The Midrash teaches that "after these things" means something immediately after. We, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, mentally experience these words immediately after the first day's reading.   That reading starts with the miraculous birth of Yitzchak, thirty-seven years earlier.  Then the very grown-up conflict with his half-brother Yishmael and the climatic narrative of the expulsion of Hagar and Yishmael unfolds.  Avraham is willing to sacrifice each of his sons at God's command. Yishmael and Hagar in the wilderness is the first of these two instances.  Hagar's expulsion and her anguish in the wilderness therefore must color our understanding of Rosh Hashanah's primal narrative, the Akeidah.

Article continues here

"Embodied Light" by Richard McBee

The Jewish Art Salon's exhibit is mentioned in the next to last paragraph.

EMBODIED LIGHT: 9-11 IN 2011: AN INSTALLATION BY TOBI KAHN

 Tragedies do not function to teach us well-ordered lessons.  Rather they demand that we turn inward so that we may absorb their impact and, over time, somehow deal with the horror of a violently wounded world.

That is what Tobi Kahn's installation "Embodied Light: 9-11 in 2011" accomplishes.  He has created a meditative space, inviting us to spend some quiet time in the gallery, absorbing the spare wall texts by noted author Nessa Rapoport and contemplate his intriguing installation.  In return we will return to the towers, their tragic end, and gain a complex perspective on what is a defining event of our time.

Continue article here:

http://www.jewishpress.com/printArticle.cfm?contentid=49727

Artists 4 Israel: "Response Art Series" & "Terror: Artists Respond"

By Richard McBee.




Date: Wednesday, August 31 2011 

Terror: Artists Respond

September 18 - October 2, 2011 
- Opening September 18; 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Shofar Project Flash Mob - 1:15pm see http://web.me.com/yvf/Terror/Images.html

Dershowitz Center Gallery: Industry City - 220 36th Street, Brooklyn, NY

There is a short list of things that really matter: family, friends, country and faith the most.  For many Jews, our people and Israel occupy an almost sacred place in the order of commitment and passion.  Therefore, when either the Jewish people or the legitimacy of the State of Israel are attacked and slandered, we react passionately.  In a visceral way these things are crucial to the very core of our identity. How do contemporary Jewish artists respond?

The answer is emphatically provided by two exhibitions in September at the Dershowitz Center Gallery at Industry City (Bush Terminal) in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn.  The Response Art Series created by Sheryl Intrator and Artists 4 Israel has challenged New York area artists to create works that support Israel's right to exist in peace and security.  All of the works are newly created and are in response to a recent series of pro-Israel lectures, panel discussions and the Fogel family memorial service at Congregation Kehillat Jeshurun in Manhattan. 

Terror: Artists Respond solicited an international group of artists to submit works that reflect their reaction to terror attacks in the ten years since 9/11.  Both shows demonstrate the passionate response of Jewish artists to these dual threats: accusations of illegitimacy and random violence and murder.  The result is moving, creative and devastating.

Growing Under Concrete, photograph (28 x 42), by Dan Keinan

Courtesy: Terror: Artists Respond

Continue reading here.

Response Art Series opens September 1

Artists 4 Israel and Sheryl Intrator invite you to the Opening Reception Thursday September 1, 2011, 7-10 PM at the Industry City Gallery, NY.

Several salon artists are among the many who will be exhibiting art in response to lectures about Israel. The exhibit was juried by Mel Alexenberg, Regina Khidekel and Shlomo Gorewitz.

The exhibit will be opened by Malcolm Hoenlein, Gil Lainer, Edward J. Koch and our own Richard McBee.

"Alan Falk's Lessons", review by Richard McBee

The Four Passover Sons (2009) Alan Falk

Two of Alan Falk's biblical paintings immediately assault us aesthetically and thematically.  Isaac Blessing Jacob (2009) and The Cry of Esau (2010) document the famous stolen blessing of Beraishis 27 and its consequences.  The ancient Isaac is clad in a white nightshirt, raising his bony hands in blessing over his two sons.  In one, Jacob has donned a curly-haired brown Afro deceitfully offering his blind father food, while in the other, Isaac's trembling hands attempt to bless the hysterical Esau at his feet.  The cartoonish figures are caught in a melodrama of high-keyed color and exaggerated gesture that casts the biblical tale into an unfamiliar and strange realm. Continue reading here.

Ahron Weiner - Bible Adinfinitum - A hot exhibit.

Klompching Gallery - until August 11, 2011
111 Front Street, #206 (Dumbo) Brooklyn, NY

Creation of Man - Ahron D. Weiner

It was hot, I mean really hot at that opening in the very cool heart of Dumbo.  But well worth it since Weiner's four large pigment prints (24 x 36) were impressive and intriguing.  Weiner's technique of rip, tear, deface and then photograph layered public poster ads is right on the edge of trespass and vandalism, but since most of his victims are also simply opportunistic advertisements on someone else's property, I guess all is fair in love and art.