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Previous Exhibits “Memoir of an Assimilated Family” by renowned printmaker Judith K. Brodsky consists of approximately 150 etchings based on old family photographs. Brodsky is fascinated by the paradox of assimilation--that in trying to follow the old rules, immigrants and their children created a new order. Another element important to Brodsky is the way in which the Holocaust creates a context for looking at American Jewish family history. For the exhibit, Ms. Brodsky uses family photographs and anecdotal texts; she summons forth memories of a very specific world of aspiring Jewish immigrants—and in doing so, strikes a common chord across ethnic groups and national borders, as she explore the importance of family, memories and heritage. “Memoir of an Assimilated Family” is one of the Independent Projects for PHILAGRAfiKA 2010.Judith K. Brodsky: Memoir of an Assimilated Family is organized by Wendi Furman, Director, Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art December 2010 - February 2010 An invitational exhibition featuring wimpels and wimpel-inspired art created by twelve artists of varied backgrounds. The artists contributing to Wimpel! Wrapped Wishes were asked to “explore the wimpel, interpret it, create metaphors, comment, celebrate, critique, cross cultures, imagine, translate—to make it yours”. Among the subjects suggested by the wimple are identity; core sensibilities, values, and world views, and how they are expressed and lived; parenting; gender; marriage and more.We hope this will be an exhibition about the future: what do we wish for today’s children? How do we express our hopes and dreams for the next generation? ON WINGS OF PRAYER Laurie Wohl UNWEAVINGS September 11 - December 7, 2009 What Was Our Vision: Sixteen Scenes from Wandering in the Desert July 10 - August 16, 2009 Taking shape in Zoë Cohen’s desert visions are the artistic and spiritual explorations of a twenty-first century artist. Imagined in them are the millennia-old revelations of her ancestors, the progenitors and early practitioners of Judaism. Intrigued by earth- and female-centered traditions that predated and helped to shape monotheistic belief and practice—but have since been sublimated or disavowed—Cohen sought out images of ancient Near Eastern art. She culled from them a collection of figures, shapes, and symbols that resonated with her growing Jewish belief and observance. March 26 - June 26, 2009 Opening Thursday, March 26 at 7:00pm In Hand to Hand, Zeva Oelbaum presents a body of work literally taken from the pages of history. Having grown up with stacks of Hebrew books relegated to her family’s basement, Oelbaum was fascinated by the scribbles and markings she found in their endpapers (with paper being a rare and expensive commodity in the 19th century and earlier, a book’s endpapers were often used as “note pads” for making lists, practicing spelling, and recording purchases). Manipulating imagery from her family’s books and those from Jewish libraries and archives, Oelbaum transforms markings written in multiple languages--Latin, Russian, German, Polish, Aramaic, and Yiddish--immortalizing the inherent visual lyricism in words and scribbles inscribed in books that, like the people who owned and/or studied them, existed and persisted through the geographic and linguistic transmutations of the Jewish Diaspora. September 5 - November 7, 2008 Renown New York artist, Howard Lerner creates magnificent works which bring the viewer closer the mysteries behind Biblical stories. In his sculpture one can feel that he tangibly recreates these ancient interactions between God and man into image and word. Using found objects, the discarded remnants of our civilization for sculptural material, he weaves and integrates these stories into the individual pieces. Through his interest in yoga meditation and the spiritual figures from our Torah, the interconnections and similarities sparked within him a great dialogue between these great cultural and spiritual paths. In each construction he drew upon these two great traditions for inspiration. December 10, 2008 - March 10, 2009 Sonia. Benjamin is a Jew who grew up in India, a predominately Hindu and Muslin society, and was educated in Catholic and Zoroastrian schools. Now living in America, Ms. Benjamin has always reflected upon the cultural boundary zones in which she has lived; “Now living in the multicultural United States, I feel a strong need to make art that will speak to my audience of our similarities, not our differences.” Ms. Benjamin received an MFA in painting from Southern Illinois University and an MFA in theater set design from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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| Congregation Rodeph Shalom • 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123 • info@rodephshalom.org • Phone: 215.627.6747 |
