New Jewish Art
What makes Art Jewish?
The fact that the artist is Jewish? The fact, that the theme is Jewish? What does Jewish mean in this context? Jewish history? Jewish religion? Or even Israeli history or culture?
Certainly, there is no one answer to this question, so the question is: what does it mean to me? And I think, this question is the raison d’être behind a lot of the art that I create — by exploring new ways of religious, spiritually inspired art.
What can Jewish art of the 21st century appear like? And how relevant is it outside the Jewish world?
The Binding of Yitzhak or the Parting of the Red Sea, Dancing Chassidim or a Jewish Woman Lighting Shabbos Candles — so many wonderful artists have told these stories before, and — being somewhat pragmatic about it — I do not feel the urge to add to this collection.
As a person and artist I am strongly influenced by my synesthetic perception of the world – as a graphic designer in the 21st century, I am lead by design thinking, by concepts of abstract reductions, shapes, color and textures, and working out their innate strengths and creative depths — the ongoing creation of metaphor. Finally, as a Jew, I am connected to centuries and millenniums of Jewish history, thought and philosophy. And it is precisely this fusion, excitement and tension between the past and the present, the old and the new that determines a lot of my work.
—Yehudis Jacobowitz
[mysticARTinitinere]
To understand the world in its depth, it is necessary to be on the move – considering that man takes steps on this earth every day, albeit small ones, in the same way a child faces and discovers the marvels of creation for the first time.
Yehudis Jacobowitz is an artist, and foremost a woman, traveling a path through the illuminating symbols of the universe, which she manages to capture. The universe can be compared to a book, from which man has to decipher the messages in order to improve his consciousness, his state of awareness, and thus his interaction with nature and society.
Mysticism is about immersing oneself in the mysterious and holy codes of this universe and let oneself go, loose oneself to eventually find oneself; liberate oneself of one‘s own ferocious and insatiable individualism – to find love. And so, here are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet of Yehudis, personifications of man, who attempts to find his origin again through prayer, striving to arrive at a renewal, a rebirth.
The works of Yehudis are an invitation to get connected again to the creator‘s spirit, to reexamine the sense of life. In a world that collapses into depression and loneliness of the soul, it‘s essential to find true and fundamental principles, a way of being, setting aside the excessive consumerism: only in this way man will be able to heal and regain his dignity. Art is mystic, and it is the mysticism of beauty that emanates from the works of the artist. Yehudis unites the figurative with the abstract, discovering the letters to be her agents, a ring of conjunction; the abstract becomes a fabric, a thread interweaving the dots.
The »mysticARTinitinere« project wants to be a revival of man‘s core values, in the modernity and actuality of expressive means, communicated in an innovative and original manner – proposing a journey from one continent to another, from one city to another, hosted by the most diverse cultures: because mysticism is always in fashion, it belongs to everyone, without distinctions; and this means to create and transmit culture in a positive way.
© Giuseppe Ussani d'Escobar, Curator, Rome, Italy
I will teach you wisdom
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Israel
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Lech Lecha
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The House of Love and Prayer
It is a custom among all streams of Judaism to add the presence of Tzaddikim (righteous people) and Rabbonim to our homes. The art series portrays leading Rabbis from the Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrachi world between Israel and the USA. Also available as high reproduction wall art.
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Klezmer!
Music and dance are essential, even inseperable parts of Jewish culture and religion. This work looks into the meaning of Jewish music as an expression of identity – focusing on Klezmer music, the instrumental music of the European Ashkenazi Jews, as well as ritual music, Yiddish songs or other, more progressive musical forms. For this collection, »bal-kulturniks« (Jews who are culturally active: musicians, artists, actors, filmmakers) were interviewed, various thoughts collected, and addressed graphically.
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