Staff Picks

Since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and recognition of the Holocaust as a watershed event of the twentieth century, if not in Western Civilization itself, the capacity of art to represent this event adequately has been questioned. As it analyzes a cross section of Holocaust art within the context of art history, Absence / Presence addresses the discussion head on and explores the interchange between media and horror. The book's contributors include case studies from a broad spectrum of artists in North America, Europe, and Israel to examine some of the more dominant themes in these artists' work. In addition to standard readings of Holocaust art, the essays help illuminate the issues of eugenics; the importance of art for Hitler and the Nazis; the immense pilfering of art that occurred during World War II; and the length and degree of the destruction of European Jewry, which forced artists to reinvent their work through their own fate.

This unprecedented publication offers an extraordinary range of contemporary response to the Holocaust from artists, poets, writers and scholars. Artists write about the restorative powers of art, drama and dance while critics debate their very purpose.

Complex Identities is a joint effort by American and Israeli scholars who ask challenging questions about art as formed by society and ethnicity. Focusing on nineteenth– and twentieth–century European, American, and Israeli artists, the contributors delve into the many ways in which Jewish artists have responded to their Jewishness and to the societies in which they lived, and how these factors have influenced their art, their choice of subject matter, and presentation of their work.
The contributions reflect a broad range of contemporary art criticism drawn from the history of art, culture, and literature. By analyzing how Jewish experiences have depicted and shaped art, the collection begins to answer how art, in its turn, depicts and shapes Jewish experience. An introduction by the volume editors unifies the essays and gives a historical overview.

"A History of Antisemitism in Canada presents a state-of-the-art account of the phenomenon. It builds on the foundation of numerous previous studies on antisemitism in general and on antisemitism in Canada in particular, and builds on the growing body of scholarship in Canadian Jewish studies. It attempts to understand the ways in which antisemitism has impacted Canada as a whole, and examines most especially its influence on the development of Canada's Jewish community. The book gives readers the tools to understand why antisemitism is such a controversial subject. It acquaints them with the ambiguities inherent in the historical relationship between Jews and Christians and shows these ambiguities in play in the unfolding historical relationship between Jews and Canadians of other religions and ethnicities. It examines present relationships in light of history and, most particularly, considers the influence of antisemitism on the social, religious, and political history of the Canadian Jewish community."

"In Honour of our Grandmothers is a fascinating and powerful collaboration of four very talented and dedicated artists. This collection of visual art and poetry explores the dignity, beauty, and cultural heritage of two distinct cultures. It honours the traditional cultures of the First Nations and Jewish people and celebrates their survival. Experiences of oppression, religious intrusion, forced assimilation and cultural genocide are examined through vision and voice. In Honour of our Grandmothers is unique in its portrayal of the parallel struggles of two juxtaposed cultures who survive and flourish in the cultural web of Canadian society." -- book jacket

"Jewish Art presents a sweeping panorama of three thousand years of artistic creativity accompanied by informative and thought-provoking text.
More than 300 stunning full-color reproductions map an extraordinary odyssey that has traversed the globe. Jewish Art's richly detailed text provides historical, social, and religious background that places these remarkable treasures within the context of the forces that shaped them."--From publisher's description

Featuring sixty-seven illustrations, and providing an important reckoning and visualization of the previously hidden Jewish 'ghosts' within US art, Jewish Identities in American Feminist Art addresses the veiled role of Jewishness in the understanding of feminist art in the United States.

A small Jewish town in 19th century Ukraine. Young Léa, of marriageable age, only has eyes for Khonen, a gifted Talmudist student. Her rich father, who is looking for a son-in-law in business, has however chosen a man for her whom she has never seen in her life. But on the wedding day, scandal: Léa is possessed by a wandering soul, a dybbuk! Sender died of shame: his daughter, so pure... and the marriage which risks being annulled! All that remains is to take him to the great Rebbe Azriel, hunter of dybbuks. If a spirit haunts a living person, it is the consequence of an injustice or a bad action... What could this young girl have done? Is she just the guilty one? And what does this Meshulekh want, who seems to know things that escape ordinary mortals? Léa's destiny cannot stop at the limits within which this story has confined her!--publisher's website

Ranging from antiquity to the present day, these artworks and ritual objects include: a 4th-century glass vessel and ancient burial plaques; exquisite Torah decorations and marriage contracts; stunningly ornate Hanukkah lamps and spice containers; beautiful paintings and prints, by such artists as: Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Marc Chagall and Ben Shahn; striking contemporary works by Leonard Baskin, Sol LeWitt, George Segal, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and many others; and selections of video and still images from television and film, ranging from documentaries and dramas to situation comedies. Two introductory essays discuss the history and significance of the Jewish Museum, followed by a superb range of artworks grouped thematically in categories such as: memory and history; spirituality and faith; society, politics and community; text and representation; and television and culture. Each work is accompanied by a short essay providing description and interpretation. Together, the reproductions and lively text recount the fascinating story of how Jewish culture has evolved through the centuries and across continents.

"Moldovan Hotel explores the intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust in Romania through a queer Jewish voice in the Diaspora. In 2017, Leah Horlick travelled to Romania to revisit the region her Jewish ancestors fled. What she unearthed there is an elaborate web connecting conscious worlds to subconscious ones, fascism to neofascisms, Europe to the Americas to the Middle East, typhus to HIV/AIDS, genocide in Romania to land grabs in Palestine, women's lives in farming villages to queer lives in the city, language to its trap doors, and love to its hidden, ancestral obligations. With force, clarity and searing craft, Horlick's poems are equal to the urgency of our political moment. No one ever thinks they might be the dragon, Horlick writes, and yet history repeats its cruelties. This work takes things apart to put them profoundly back together"--publisher's description

Contributors to the volume include leading scholars of Canadian Jewish life as well as eminent Jewish scholars writing about Canada for the first time. The essays compare Canadian Jewish life with the quality of life experienced by Jews in other countries, examine Jewish and non-Jewish interactions in Canada, analyse specific historical moments and literary texts, reflect deeply personal histories, and widen the conversation about the quality and timbre of the Canadian Jewish experience. No Better Home? foregrounds Canadian Jewish life and ponders all that the Canadian experience has to teach about Jewish modernity.

The Place of All Possibility is a paradigm-shifting work that reframes the whole of Torah as a contemporary guidebook for creativity. Drawing from the deep well of Jewish sacred texts, and the radical interpretive strategies of ancient rabbis, The Place of All Possibility provides teachings and tools for those who seek to employ creativity as a force of transformation. Putting spiritual wisdom in conversation with the contemporary disciplines of art therapy, liberation theology, and creativity research, this essential book invites us all to rediscover our place in a world of mutual thriving. Packed with practical exercises to inspire your creative practice, The Place of All Possibility is for all people—from any tradition or none—who want to seed a world of imagination, abundance, and joy.

It's just another boring summer for our teenaged narrator until Barbra arrives. An Ethiopian Jew, Barbra was brought to Israel at age five, a part of Operation Solomon, and now our narrator's well-intentioned father has brought her, as a teen, to their home for the summer. But Barbra isn't the docile and grateful orphan they expect, and soon our narrator, terrified of her and drawn to her in equal measure, finds himself immersed in compulsive psychosexual games with her, as she binge-drinks and lies to his family. Things go terribly wrong, and Barbra flees. But seven years later, as our narrator is getting his life back on track, with a new girlfriend and a master's degree in Holocaust Studies underway, Barbra shows up at our narrator's house once again, her "spiritual teacher" in tow, and our narrator finds his politics, and his sanity, back in question.

A guidebook to the most current trends in contemporary Jewish art and design, Reinventing Ritual provides an unprecedented look at the work and thought of contemporary artists as they respond to the needs and practices of traditional culture. Beautifully illustrated with new art from Israel, Europe, and the Americas, this publication features both traditional and avant-garde sculpture, textiles, architecture, metalwork, and ceramics by forty leading artists.--publisher's description

Catalog to accompany the traveling exhibit; traveling to Finegood Art Gallery, Bernard Milken Jewish Community Center, West Hills, Calif., November 23, 1997-January 11, 1998; Sharadin Art Gallery, Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pa.; and 7 other galleries from 1999 to 2001.
Artists include: Ita Aber, Joyce Abrams, Melinda Smith Altshuler, Lynne Avadenka, Beth Bachenheimer, Marion A. Baker, Susan Bee, Miriam Beerman, Lauren Berkowitz, and Gaza Bowen.