Category Archives: Art

Underground Genesis

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OK, I’ll weigh in: I really, really like the new R. Crumb new version of Genesis.

When it was announced that the legendary underground comic book artist was going to take a crack at the Book of Genesis, I’m sure that many expected it to be an exercise in post-modern Biblical irony. They needn’t have worried. Crumb has reimagined Genesis like nothing I’ve read/seen in a long, long time.

Some might quibble with his rendering of certain episodes (and I do), but I don’t think anyone can reasonably call this a novelty version. Crumb has definitely done his homework – and while he admits in his introduction that he does not regard the Bible as the word of God, he clearly has a healthy respect for its mythic power:

(The Bible) is a powerful text with layers of meaning that reach deep into our collective unconsciousness, our historical consciousness, if you will. It seems indeed to be an inspired work, but I believe that its power derives from its having been a collective endeavor that evolved and condensed over many generations before reaching the final fixed form as we know it during the “Babylonian Exile,” circa 600 BCE…

If my visual, literal interpretation of the Book if Genesis offends or outrages some readers, which seems inevitable considering that the text is revered by many people, all I can say in my defense is that I approached this as a straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes. That said, I know that you can’t please everybody.

Though it seems like an unlikely project for him, Crumb’s earthy, hyper-realistic style actually serves the Biblical narrative quite well. Many will undoubtedly regard his graphic representation to be reductionist or even idolatrous (the most obvious example being God rendered as a stern, old bearded man). I personally experienced his effort as “visual midrash” that has intellectual and emotional impact in virtually every panel.

There have been a number of worthwhile reviews of the Crumb Genesis. If you are interested in reading up on the critical reaction, I highly recommend Biblical scholar Robert Alter’s recent piece in The New Republic.

Banksy and the Art of Protest

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I just read that the famed anonymous British graffiti artist Banksy is mounting his largest project to date: an unusual showcasing of his work at England’s Bristol Museum. Although this particular project was legit, it still bears the hallmarks of Banksy’s trademark guerrilla approach:

He filled three stories of the building with his art in 36 hours under tight security, as only a few museum staff were aware of the shows’ imminent arrival.

His work is hidden among the museum’s usual exhibits and is split into different rooms, including installations, paintings and sculptures.

Reading this reminded me of another one of Banksy’s projects: a series of amazing protest art he painted along Israel’s barrier wall a few years ago. Scroll down to see some of the more well-known images he put up in Bethlehem. Click the clip above to see the mysterious artist in action…

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The Ottomans: Gone But Not Forgotten

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Read an interesting article in the NY Times Saturday about the new $200 million museum opening in Athens. Apparently there is now hope in Greece that it will become the permanent home for the Parthenon Marbles – an ancient frieze from the Parthenon that was taken by the British in the early 19th century.

Toward the end of the article:

Greece retains only 36 of the 115 original panels from the Parthenon frieze, which depicts a procession in honor of the goddess Athena. Britain has long asserted that when (British Ambassador) Lord Elgin chiseled off the sculptures some 200 years ago, he was acting legally, since he had permission from Greece’s Ottoman rulers.

Ottoman law, Ottoman law…

Something about this sounded strangely familiar – then it hit me. Ottoman law has also been invoked in defense of a very different sort of theft: namely Israel’s nationalization of Palestinian land in the Occupied Territories.

From a 2005 B’tselem report:

The declaration of the territory as state land was grounded on a manipulative use of the Ottoman Land Law of 1858, which was absorbed in the British mandatory legislation, and later in Jordanian law. According to the 1858 law, the state may take possession of land that is not worked for three consecutive years. In accordance with the military legislation, through which the Ottoman Law was applied, the burden of proof was on the person contending that his parcel of land is not state land.

Who knew? It’s almost a hundred years since the Ottoman empire went under, but its legal genius is still appreciated more than ever…

Theater of Crisis in Israel/Palestine

Spertus Moves Back to the Edge

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After their last edgy exhibition was shut down by the Chicago Federation, the Spertus Museum has come back undaunted with “Twisted Into Recognition: Cliches of Jews and Others.” Their latest offering, which comes from the Jewish Museums of Berlin and Vienna,

explores the ways images and objects that depict stereotypes are seen, perceived, and classified. Stereotypes and clichés are an integral part of our perception, shaping our image of ourselves and others as well as our sense of belonging to a distinct group or nation apart from others. Through their simplification, these characterizations may help us to overcome our fear of the unknown, but at the same time, serve as a breeding ground for racist ideologies.

Kudos to Spertus (and especially curator Rhoda Rosen) for continuing to offer probing and challenging explorations of the contemporary Jewish experience – and for refusing to be intimidated by those who are threatened by such.

For more on “Twisted,” check out this recent review in the Chicago Tribune.

Arab-Israeli Cultural Correspondence

Death of a Palestinian Poet

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Just read of the death of the prominent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish in Houston following heart surgery. An incalculable loss for the Palestinian people and the world.

Speaking as an American Jew, Darwish’s poetry gave me an invaluable entry point into the Palestinian cultural soul. I do believe that in addition to his importance as the unofficial Palestinian poet laureate (he grappled publicly with the experience of his people’s exile long before it made the world headlines) he was an artist who transcended his own unique historical time and circumstance. Darwish was truly an artist whose art made a difference in the world.

It’s also important to note that while Darwish was fiercely devoted to his homeland and his cause, his poetry also opened up a significant place of connection between Palestinian and Israeli culture. Darwish himself expressed appreciation, for example, for the poetry of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai – and as recently as 2000, Israel’s then education minister, Yossi Sarid, proposed including some of Darwish’s poems in the Israeli high school curriculum.

Check out Global Voices for thoughts from the world blogosphere about Darwish’s legacy. Click here to read a sampling of his poetry.

Big Honors For “Exit Wounds”

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I just read in Ha’aretz that Israeli artist/writer Rutu Modan’s “Exit Wounds,” has won the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for best graphic novel, apparently the highest award a graphic novel can receive in the US.

I’d say it’s a richly deserved honor. It’s a wonderfully drawn and multi-layered book; the plot focuses on a young Israeli cab driver’s search for his long lost father, who may or may not have been killed in a terrorist suicide bombing. “Exit Wounds” simultaneously reads as a detective story, a portrait of deeply scarred Israeli society and a poignant family drama. I enjoyed it thoroughly when I first read it last year and recommend it highly.

The Buckling of Spertus

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Sad news for the Jewish community of Chicago, for Jews everywhere…

“Imaginary Coordinates,” an exhibit at the Spertus Museum has closed down due to pressure from the Jewish United Fund of Greater Chicago. “Coordinates” explored historical maps of Israel/Palestine not simply as navigational devices but as tools that can “manipulate an outcome” and serve as “products of memory and spiritual imagination.” This innovative and important exhibit incorporated artifacts and videos, and sought to expand the conventional notion of cartography as the only way to define borders. When first mounted, it was initially suspended, then tweaked. Now it’s no more.

Apparently, the Jewish Federation here believed that an intelligent examination of the cultural influences of politcal borderlines is tantamount to anti-Zionist propaganda. Even since the reworking, the JUF, which contributes roughly 11% of Spertus’ budget, has been laying heat on the museum to cease and desist. This past week, Spertus finally buckled.

JUF President Steven Nasatir was quoted in a newsy Chicago Trib piece thus:

Aspects of it were clearly anti-Israel. I was very surprised that a Jewish institution would put forward this exhibition. I was surprised and saddened by it.

No, I’d say intelligent exploration and provocative debate is precisely what belongs at a Jewish institution – regardless of what certain powerful minorities in our community might say. I’m particularly troubled by this patronizing attitude that the exhibit should not be viewed without the “appropriate context.” Whose context – the Jewish Federation’s? Isn’t that really the point: that it was this sort of bias that the exhibit was seeking to explore?

Shalom Rav

A Blog by Rabbi Brant Rosen