The Jewish Art Salon is featured on Jspace

Jspace, a Jewish online news and culture blog, features an article on the Jewish Art Salon.

"The Jewish Art Salon might be based on a historic tradition—the gathering of creative minds to promote a love and appreciation for artistic endeavors.

The work Jewish Art Salon promotes, however, is anything but traditional.

This New York-based organization operates on an international level, exposing the community to contemporary art that typically carries some sort of Jewish edge.

The result? A gathering of Jewish artists with a scope that’s wider than ever before."

Continue reading the article here

Meshugeneh House of DIY June 16

On Sunday, June 16, 2013 the Russian Jewish community of NY will come together for Meshugeneh House of DIY - an exhilarating day of 25+ hands-on workshops, food, and music on a stunning Williamsburg rooftop.

The Jewish Art Salon is a partner in this event, and JAS president Yona Verwer will be conducting an amulet painting workshop.

Meshugeneh DIY celebrates the do-it-yourself ethos of generations past, as workshops include making your own sauerkraut, cheese, pickles, and vodka infusions, but also modern day pursuits like urban farming, meditation, genetic testing, jewelry making, massage, drumming, and tantra, showcasing the full spectrum and range of today’s Russian Jewish community.

Mamalah Meets Mamita: An Evening with Lisa Klug, Author of Hot Mamalah and Cool Jew, and Performer/Poet Vanessa Hidary aka the Hebrew Mamita, with musical guest, Mama Doni and guest host, Diva Mama Shira Adler.

Wednesday May 29, 8 PM

Congregation Shearith Israel - The Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue

8 West 70th Street, New York, New York 10023

Lisa and Vanessa will present stories and slam poetry. Doni will perform an acoustic set and the event will be emcee'd by Shira.
Raffle prizes, gift bags, light refreshments.
Book and CD signing.

Suggested donation: $10-$20 sliding scale.

A Hot Mamalah Production, co-sponsored by Jewish Art Salon, JICNY and Isramerica.

'Tender Shreds': Art Explores Israeli Sexuality and Politics

Andi Arnovitz's "Tender Shreds" at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City is a powerful exhibition of artworks that combine Arnovitz's unique feminist and Jewish Orthodox viewpoints. Born in Prairie Village, Kan., "Tender Shreds" is a home coming for Arnovitz, who moved to Israel in 1999. While true to her religious beliefs, Arnovitz's work prods and engages issues of sexuality and politics in Israel.

Many of the works in "Tender Shreds" are clothing. The garments hang in glass display cases, pressed flat and made of both fabrics and more unusual materials like books, paper, rocks and hair. Each piece of clothing is intended to be read, not worn, as each material becomes a symbol in a longer chain of reflections.

Continue article here.

Audrey Flack in conversation with Samantha Baskind

By Haley Tamir

The Jewish presence and identity in the contemporary world of art is one truly worth noting. At the 3^rd annual conference of “Jewish Arts & Identity in the contemporary world” in Baruch college’s Jewish Studies Center, at a panel entitled “Jewish Ways of Seeing: The Visual Arts and the Jewish Tradition”, this Jewish impact on the creative world is exemplified through the discussion of artist Audrey Flack and her various works.

June 4

6-9 PM

Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning,
1 E 65 St, NYC

Kaleidoscopic Auschwitz Art

Dutch-Jewish visual artist Maarten van der Heijden focuses his contemporary artworks on his visceral reaction to the Holocaust, following a personal journey in which he embraced his Jewish roots after a visit to Auschwitz.

At first sight, his work is a beautiful kaleidoscope of color, but as you gaze into the work, you are slowly confronted with the horrors of the Nazi regime. It is simultaneously pleasing and disturbing.

Continue article on the Jewish Art Education blog here

As Subject and Object: Contemporary Book Artists Explore Sacred Hebrew Texts

Curated by Adrianne Rubin, MOBIA associate curator, and Professor Matthew Baigell.

Museum of Biblical Art

1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY 10023

June 14 - September 29, 2013

Featuring the work of approximately a dozen contemporary artists, this exhibition will highlight books and, in some cases, series of individual pages, inspired by the Hebrew Bible and other sacred Hebrew texts. The works on view will underscore the relevance of the Bible to present-day book artists and emphasize how these artists garner personally resonant artistic subject matter from the source materials.

An exhibition featuring the semi-finalists of the VCJA art contest.
Hall and Garden by the Hostaria del Ghetto, Venice
Cannaregio 2873 / c, 30121 Venezia
Sunday May 19 to May 29
Opening: Sunday 19 May

Semi-finalists: Andrea Nevi & Eleonora Beddini, Anna Gil, Benjie Herskowitz, Rappel Bess, Billha Zussman, Gene Levin, David Asher Brook, Jacqueline Nicholls, Joy Styember, Katarzyna Gajewska, Kenney Goldman, Maria Ferrara, Melissa Shiff, Antonio Moretti, Yitzchok Moully, Norma Picciotto, Natalia Kadish, Oliviero Stefano, Fabio Sampo, Maria Luisa Imperiali, Lillooet Mc Donnell, Stefano Zaratin.

Siona Benjamin reviewed in ARTNews

By Stephanie Strasnick

I like to recycle mythology—I like being a storyteller,” says Siona Benjamin. Raised in a Jewish household in Mumbai, Benjamin mixes Indian folk imagery with religious iconography to create artworks that are multilayered, thought- provoking, and rich in narrative content. Her knack for storytelling has a lot to do with her background in theater—in addition to a diploma in enameling and an M.F.A. in painting, drawing, and metals from Southern Illinois University, Benjamin has a second M.F.A. in theater-set design and has conceived the scenery for numerous productions.

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