Art and the Demands of Memory
Works by Second Generation
Holocaust Survivors

February 7 鈥 May 19, 2024

Explore the ways in which art is shaped by memories of traumatic experiences 鈥 memories that serve as throughlines to affirm the relevance of the past in understanding both the present and the future.

Artists:

  • Trudy Babchak
  • Michael Steiner Borek
  • Coos Hamburger
  • Micheline Klagsbrun
  • Kitty Klaidman听
  • Dalya Luttwak
  • Miriam M枚rsel Nathan
  • Margot Neuhaus听
  • Chaya Schapiro
  • Mindy Weisel


Curator:听Aneta Georgievska-Shine

Klaggsbrunn, Passage.

Micheline Klagsbrun, Passage, 2023, mixed media sculpture/ assemblage, appr. 72 x 220 in.

Overview & Events

Gallery Talk: Art and the Demands of Memory
February 7, 3:00-4:00听


Join the conversation between this group of second-generation Jewish artists whose practices have been indelibly marked by the trauma of the Holocaust. As memory keepers of the lives of those who could not speak for themselves, they affirm the relevance of the 鈥減ast鈥 for the world as we have found it, as well as the one we are shaping for future generations.

This exhibition deals with ways in which art is shaped by memories of traumatic experiences, focusing on the 鈥渟econd generation鈥 Jewish artists/ survivors. For most of these artists, these memories exist only through the accounts of their parents or relatives. Nonetheless, they are often just as 鈥渞eal鈥 in terms of their impact on their work.

Learn about each artist鈥檚 personal story and sensibilities, as well as their shared preoccupation with the past and the ways in which it leaves its imprint. Some approach this through direct storytelling using the language of representation. Others are more abstract or conceptual. Some depict specific places associated with the war-time experiences of their family members, while others revisit those sites of trauma in a more metaphorical manner. Some of their works have an almost documentary character. In others, the beholder is led along more oblique pathways towards broader themes related to identity, displacement, migration, and oblivion.

Press

Washington Hebrew Congregation Journal:

Washington Post:

Michael Steiner Borek, Steiner Bezexistence, 2023.

Michael Steiner Borek, Steiner Bezexistence #9094, 2023. Black/white photo, 9 x 12 inches.

Miriam M枚rsel Nathan, Zdenka, 2019, 21 painted cardboard boxes, 12 x 6 x 6 in. each.

Miriam M枚rsel Nathan, Zdenka, 2019, 21 painted cardboard boxes, 12 x 6 x 6 in. each.