A variety of my traditional and contemporary landscapes are on view and mostly available for purchase at the office of Jamie Niethold-Nash, DC in East Harwich, MA. At her office, Cape Cod Wellness, Dr. Jamie offers Network Spinal Analysis, SRI, Reiki and Nutrition. I’ve been a patient for over 25 years and rely on her for my spinal health! Come by to see the paintings and meet Dr. Jamie at One Auston Rd. Unit E. Call ahead at 774-237-9237 or contact her at DrJamie@CapeCodWellness.com or http://www.CapeCodWellness.com
36/BLUE
SEPTEMBER 13 – 26, 2018
Reception September 16, 2 – 4 p.m.
@ The Cultural Center, South Yarmouth , MA 02664
36/BLUE
is an exhibition featuring 36, 8”x 10” Assemblages incorporating my biblical, historical, personal, religious, cultural and ethnic experiences as a Jew. Within these pieces are childhood drawings and writing, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, pencil, paint, ink, monotype and photography along with re-purposed images and found objects. What may appear to be ancient Hebrew writing is actually random text from old newspapers, used both as a design element meant to evoke sacred writing but adding a deliberate Dadaist element to the work. It is a kind of visual diary/biography expressing what it is like for me to be a Jew in the late 20th and early 21st century. These pieces have taken over five years to assemble, edit and reassemble until they came together as a cohesive whole.
Why 36?
In Talmudic thought, the number 36 is represented by the Hebrew letters lamed (30) and vav (6). It is believed that in every generation there are 36 righteous whose role in life is to justify the purpose of humankind in the eyes of God. Tradition holds that they remain unaware of each other and even if they ever came to a realization of their true purpose, they would never admit it. This is unlikely as they are believed to be scattered throughout the Diaspora. They are therefore known in Hebrew as the Lamed Vav Tzadikim (36 righteous ones) or in Yiddish, Lamedvavniks. The number 36 is also important in Judaic tradition because it is “twice chai” (or twice 18). The Hebrew letters for 18 also happen to spell the word for life and so are considered lucky.
Why Blue?
The Torah commands that we include a techelef (blue) fringe among the fringes of the tzitzit (prayer shawl). There is some belief that the true color will not reemerge until the coming of the Messiah, but others believe they have found the shellfish responsible for creating the dye. A blue thread of some kind has been incorporated into each piece.
In creating the parameters for this project, I tried to encapsulate everything and everyone that connects me to my family history both ancient and modern. Whether it is my genetic ancestry or family losses in the pogroms in the Ukraine and the Holocaust, the history of the Jewish people and my own Jewish ancestors are inexorably united. Like the layers of an onion, each assemblage is an attempt to examine a piece of the puzzle that is me. I hope you find this work as meaningful to view as it has been for me to create it. Thank you for visiting my show.
Blue Box Series #1 Oil Painting now on view @ Barnstable Airport
Box Series I Oil on Canvas 18″ x 36″
This painting replaces “Losing Light” in the ongoing display of educator artwork at Barnstable Airport to support our Cape Cod Art Educator Association student scholarship fund. This is a juried exhibition. All work in the exhibition is for sale with at least 30% going to the fund.
“Losing Light” on Exhibit
Losing Light, a sunset painting, will be on exhibit (unless it sells with 30% going to the CC&IAEA Scholarship Fund) for the next six months at the Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, MA. The oil on canvas is 12″ x 16″.
Summer of Art Making
Monotype with Chine Colle’
This summer along with completing more post-Graduate work I was able to paint, continue work on my Assemblage 36 Series, and spend an amazing week at an “Artists Who Teach” residency @ Lesley University making montotype prints. These are some examples. The Monotype with Chine Colle’ above now resides in the “Permanent Collection” of Lesley University.
I was also able to complete a large 3′ x 4′ painting that I have been working on since making the 5″ x7″pochade some years ago. The image is of a storm exiting Cape Cod Bay just as the sun rises.
Painting @ Barnstable Municipal Airport
The painting “Summer Storm Cloud: Herring Cove,” an Oil on Canvas, 30″ x 40″ will be on display for the next six months in the waiting area @ the Barnstable Municipal Airport. 30% of the sale price will go towards a student scholarship through the Cape Cod & Islands Art Educators Association.
Works on Exhibit
Various new and older pieces are currently on exhibit across the cape. Two works at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis through March, another at the Hyannis Municipal Airport, and a third at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in Yarmouth.
Box Series: Monolith Oil on Canvas 18″ x 36″
Three NEW Paintings
Herring Cove: Path to the Atlantic
Oil on Canvas 18″ x 36″
Herring Cove: Autumn
Oil on Canvas 18″ x 36″
Box Series: Monolith
Oil on Canvas 18″ x 36″
Assemblage Series: Ribband of Blue CONTINUED
Here are the latest in the ongoing “Ribband of Blue” series:
Blue Series:Terezin Mixed Media 8″ x 10″
Blue Series: Slaves in Egypt Mixed Media 8″ x 10″
Blue Series: At the Wall Mixed Media 8″ x 10″
Blue Series: Life I Mixed Media 8″ x 10″
Blue Series: Life II Mixed Media 8″ x 10″
Censored! Je suis Charlie!
Recently, I found my art censored for the first time by a person or persons unknown! Even though the show was juried and the theme lent itself to expressing the human condition (Opposites Attract), there was virtually no figurative work in the show and so I was pleased to see that my multimedia assemblage diptych had been chosen for inclusion. Two days after the opening reception I got a call saying there was concern that given the number of school children coming to see the exhibition (of over 70 artworks), the fact that the work titled Man/Adam * included a small image of a penis, was deemed to be “problematic” and that there was concern that children, their teachers, parents, perhaps even a school superintendent might balk if word got back. Mind you, its twin Woman/Eve* featuring an exposed nipple and buttocks apparently caused no distress at all to these arbiters of correctness!
Coming on the heels of the brutal attack on artistic expression in Paris, I am proud to say that my art challenged the person or persons who were made to feel uncomfortable enough to demand that the work be censored. While art has a stake in continuity and upholding tradition, it must also challenge the status quo and speak truth. Otherwise, we end up with meaningless imagery filling our walls that hopefully compliments the upholstery. I would hardly call my piece provocative (or in Hitler’s terms “degenerate”) and yet I find myself confronted by a choice: remove the art or alter the art.
As a boy, I was lucky enough to grow up in New York City, and there wasn’t a museum I didn’t get to visit. I went everywhere (from the age of four on up) and saw everything. If I had questions, they were always answered in an age appropriate manner so that I could understand something of the artist’s intent. I have to wonder if children’s tours of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston bypass the gallery where Sargent’s masterpiece “Nude Study of Thomas E. McKeller” is hanging.
For those of you who don’t know the work, it is a nearly life size nude portrait of one of Sargent’s models (and perhaps lovers), in an angelic pose, legs splayed, genitals fully exposed. It is also one of the most beautiful paintings ever done of a male nude by a great artist and yes, in its time it was censored! In fact, until the major retrospective of Sargent’s work in 1999, much of his work had gone largely unseen. Like his male nudes, his landscapes had largely been ignored —only his portraits and murals had garnered attention. It was revelatory to me as an artist to discover that I had only known 1/3 of the man through his work!
If all our art needs to be safe and sanitized, never thought-provoking or even offensive, what exactly are we teaching our children? The latest initiatives in education ask teachers to challenge their students to think and respond creatively and critically to information. Not everything is pretty or nice in our world and invariably, it is the writer and the artist who dares to confront that other reality. That is the message our children need to leave exhibitions and museums with…there are many perspectives, multiple opinions, and everyone has the right to express their innermost feelings so long as they are willing to accept the consequences to their work and careers.
Sadly, I will be ending my association with the sponsoring organization, which claims to be an advocacy organization for artists and the Arts in my region. I have chosen to alter the art, covering all references to male and female anatomy with the words “censored” and “Je suis Charlie” which I suspect will get more notice than the work in its original condition. My art just doesn’t belong on Cape Cod and so I must seek out other venues where viewers are willing to be challenged and excited to guess at meaning and intent. That is what I want my art to offer, regardless of the style or the subject. That is what ART must do!
*Original versions of Man/Adam and Woman/Eve can be viewed in the “Contemporary” section of this blog.
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