Jewish Art through Time – Creative, Innovative, and Transformative!
Creative expression has been present within the Jewish people from biblical days onward despite the Second Commandment prohibition against graven images. Both external and internal conditions have impacted the visualization of biblical and ritual text into varying art forms, sometimes denigrating the practice and sometimes nourishing it.
This course, “Jewish Art Through Time, “uses illustrations, video clips, and the spoken word to create an appreciation of the richness of artistic expression in the Jewish historic experience.
Sessions:
First
The 21st-century environment in which we define and experience Jewish Art: The Talmud, the Internet, Cyber Angels, Jewish museums on the world wide web.
Second
Visual Midrash, an experiment – Using art as “family pictures” for Biblical personalities such as Ruth, David, Bathsheba, and Solomon. How artists depict these personalities, and how their works enhance our own appreciation.
Third
Artists, Merchants, and Collectors: From Picasso’s dealers, Hitler’s “Degenerate Art” exhibitions to Jewish participation in Midcentury Modernism. The expanding roles of Jews in the art world of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Fourth
Yaakov Agam, pioneer kinetic artist, rabbi of the visual, prophet of Hebraic Consciousness, and his Palm Springs connection (Sunnylands, The Palm Springs Art Museum, Temple Isaiah). Exploring how the artist’s understanding of the 2nd Commandment has impacted and shaped his experimental approach to colors, materials, and structure.
“Jewish Art through Time – Creative, Innovative and Transformative!” is presented by Rabbi Nicolas L. Behrmann, whose lifelong interest deals with the merging of media, group process, and tradition innovation. He actively explores Jewish art resources across the internet, with website design as the language of human expression through which we comprehend Jewish spirituality.
