Robert Indiana (1928 – 2018) was closely associated with the hard-edged painting and Pop Art movements. Using the formal vocabulary of advertisements, his work often explores the power of words and numbers. In Purim: The Four Facets of Esther II (1967), he represents Stars of David and elements of the Biblical story of Esther, who was Queen of Persia in the fifth century BCE. Esther saved her fellow Jews from destruction, the feat to which Indiana refers in the fourth panel.
The Jewish Museum (where this photo was taken) commissioned this print in an edition of ninety for its annual Purim fundraising ball in 1967.
A pioneer of Minimal and Conceptual art, Sol LeWitt (1928 – 2007) is known for large-scale, geometric wall drawings, often using bold stripes of pure color to create rhythmic optical patterns. In 2001, he conceived the doors of a Torah ark for Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in Chester, Connecticut, with the design of a six-pointed star within a circle. The pattern was later repeated on this leather Skull Cap. The translation of LeWitt’s signature Minimalist style into a multicolored item of Judaica is at once cheerful and graphically striking.
All Photos By Gail (Click on Any Image to Enlarge for Detail)
You don’t have to dig very deep to find a well of meaning in the works that make up sculptor Al Farrow’s new exhibit Wrath & Reverence, currently up at Forum Gallery in Midtown. In perhaps the most unique and profoundly thought provoking exhibit we’ve see in recent years, Wrath & Reverence consists of churches, synagogues, mosques, a mausoleum, Jewish ritual objects and Christian ‘casket’ reliquaries, all rendered from munitions. It brings the phrase ‘Holy War’ into an entirely new reality.
Mosque III (After National Mosque of Nigeria)
The buildings are highly detailed and faithful to reality in terms of proportion and architectural design.
Bombed Mosque (Front)
One monumental sculpture, Bombed Mosque, took the artist a year to create in his California studio, using more than 50,000 disarmed bullets and shell casings. The patterns and decorations formed from patinated and polished bullets adorn the structure in hauntingly accurate turquoise and gold; but one side of the massive dome is blown open, bombed in fact, speaking to the deep chasm between religious sects.
Bombed Mosque (Back)
Menorah (Fence II)
A Menorah, crafted from barbed wire and machine gun shells, is clearly layered with meaning and reference, but is an object of great reverence as well, attuned to past and present while statuesque and compelling in its presence.
Farrow makes art not about a certain religion, but about the repetition of history, the inexorable battle of mankind, and the perversion of organized religion as a whole.
Trigger Finger of Santo Geurro (Detail)
Assorted Reliquaries
Sacred and profane, metaphoric and literal, gleaming and shocking, Al Farrow’s Wrath & Reverence is unforgettable and deeply moving.
Sketch Of Trinity Church
This exhibit marks my first visit to the Forum Gallery, a legendary space that I was turned on to after being highly impressed with their various exhibits at this years Metro Curates Art Fair.
The room is gorgeous and the people who work in the gallery are very nice and friendly, which can be a rare thing these days. I will definitely be visiting them again, and covering more shows at Forum in the future. For now, make sure you don’t miss Al Farrow’s Wrath and Reverence, which is just fantastic. Mausoleum II
Wrath and Reverence, the Art of Al Farrow will be on Exhibit Through May 2nd, 2015 at Forum Gallery, Located at 475 Park Avenue , NYC.
Artist Chloe Wise created this sculpture of a Jewish Star (AKA Star of David) out of delicious crispy Bacon! You can see this amazing (and tasty) artwork as part of The Last Brucennial group art exhibit on now through April 4th, 2014 in a huge street level space located at the corner of 837 Washington and West 13th Streets. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 12 Noon to 6 PM. Watch for further coverage of our visit to The Last Brucennial coming to The Gig in the next few days!
