This is the Forward’s coverage of the visual arts, including painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and crafts.
Visual Art
The Latest
-
Culture A way to forgive debts and leave fields fallow — even if you’re not a farmer in Israel
What’s the best way to observe the shmita year? Perhaps a seven stranded havdalah candle, or a special set of bowls — we use special dishes for Passover, after all. For those of us who don’t work in agriculture, shmita can be easily overlooked. But “The Shmita Project,” a new exhibit at the Osher Marin…
-
Art ‘Blue Like Me’: Indian-Jewish roots explored in artist’s latest books
Siona Benjamin was raised Jewish in India’s Hindu and Muslim society where she attended Catholic and Zoroastrian schools. A two-time Fulbright scholar, author and book illustrator, she now lives in America where she creates art that explores her identity and transcultural issues. Benjamin’s work is inspired by styles of Indian and Persian miniature painting, Christian…
-
Culture In Baltimore, a Jewish museum captures the precarity — and beauty — of American Jewish life
The improbable hybrid of a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, and a sajjada, a Muslim prayer rug. A family recipe for an Iraqi date pastry that evokes layers of Arab-Jewish identity. Glazed stoneware for trans Jews to use in ritual practice. A film of screen recordings and Zoom exchanges about disability and displacement. These works,…
-
Fast Forward Emerson professor who ‘sarcastically’ gave Nazi salute in class takes leave of absence
A professor at Emerson College in Boston is being investigated after performing a Nazi salute in class last semester. The accused professor, Brian McNeil, told The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s student newspaper, that his behavior was meant to parody Nazis, but also acknowledged how his actions could have been “perceived the wrong way.” The incident, which…
-
Culture The most powerful Jewish artist you’ve never heard of
A massive exhibit at one of Miami’s leading art museums is reclaiming a place in art history for an iconoclastic but little-known Jewish artist and Holocaust survivor. . The show, “My Name Is Maryan”, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami, explores the legacy of the Polish-born artist Maryan, who survived an…
-
Yiddish World Yiddish Folklore Inspires American Artist Debra Olin
Read this article in Yiddish. As seen in a new exhibit at the Museum at Eldridge Street, artist Debra Olin has created large format monoprint collages that explore Jewish folkloric superstitions and religious practices, particularly those of women in the Russian Pale of Settlement. Olin based her art on the information she gleaned from an…
-
Culture Tobi Kahn marks a new Jewish ritual — with a new piece of art
What does tikkun olam look like? On Yom HaTzedek, a new holiday that falls on Pesach Sheni, it looks like a box. For Tobi Kahn, the renowned painter and sculptor, that box looks like a city awash in deep blue, its interior reflecting the heavens, its slot like a mailbox to God. On a Wednesday…
-
Culture On an artist’s journey of discovery, embracing mythology while rejecting the bible
At an exhibit titled “Personal Mythology” by an Israeli artist, you’d expect to see some biblical references — perhaps an apple tree, or King David with his harp. But there aren’t any; Tarot cards, witches and alchemical creatures populate Ranei Mazor’s sculptures and dioramas. “I have a very good history and record with the stories…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
- 2
Sports It’s so cool that Sandy Koufax was there for that
- 3
Opinion I’m an Israeli who lives in New York. Here’s why I’m voting for Mamdani
- 4
News Mamdani opposes Zionism, but wants New York public schools to teach about it
In Case You Missed It
-
News Mamdani’s victory divides Jewish leaders one more way: Whether to say congratulations
-
Fast Forward In a first, a ballot initiative to divest from Israel has won at the ballot box in Boston suburb
-
Fast Forward In NJ governor’s race, Mikie Sherrill fends off GOP candidate whose aide spurned ‘money from Jews’
-
News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
