Beth Grossman

Photo of Mary of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is courtesy of San Francisco based artist Beth Grossman who wrote to me the following:

Mary of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
© Beth Grossman 1996
21" x 27" x 13"
Mixed media on suitcase

Mary is the daughter of the Jewish people and the mother of the Christian people. Could this perspective have altered the treatment of Jews during World War II?

I have painted Mary in a suitcase, shielding Jesus from the war in this century. Mary was forced to flee during her time to protect her son, when the Romans were killing young Jewish children. The suitcase implies history repeating itself as Jews have been exiled throughout time.

The yellow star has symbolic importance to both Judaism and Christianity. For Jews it has dual symbolism: one of great pride as the Star of David and one of being a target for Nazi oppression. I have depicted stereotypes the Nazis pinned on Jews on the left side of the suitcase and the qualities attributed to Mary, also a Jew, on the right side. Through Mary we see the duality of human beings.


Here is a brief bio about my work as an artist:

Beth Grossman is a San Francisco based artist who integrates stories and history into her artwork of painted images and text on everyday objects. A common thread in her artwork is re-contextualized stories and interpretation of history. She has shown her work in museums nationally and has worked on interactive, collaborative art projects at national monuments, rivers, parks and street sites in the United States, China, Russia and Germany. 

Isaac Celnikier

Yellow Badge appears on the Self Portrait of painter Isaac Celnikier (b. 1923, Warsaw). Isaac Celnikier is a survivor from Auschwitz. In March 2005 Krakow's national museum exhibited his works under the title Time of Tears… the Time of Hatred… the Time of War…

Eric Vanounou, Post-Jew-Complex

A work from the series Post-Jew-Complex. While the Yellow Badge is a yellow Star of David, two interlaced triangles, we see here a variation: two interlaced yellow squares. I thought it might help to the understanding of this work if we’ll read an excerpt from a poem written by Eric Vanounou (my translation)

You shouldn’t paint what you see
What you see is a lie
I keep reminding myself
Drive away nature!
Drive away nature!
I pile up layers on layers
Brighten distance blacken closeness
Color from the tube, glue, and shellac
Fasten my grip on the new horizons
That were un-recognizably blurred
Yellow ocher mixed in a desert-space

Photo is courtesy of Eric Vanounou
Copyrights: Eric Vanounou

Hatikvah

Photo is courtesy of Anat Aderet, who wrote to me that this paper cut with a Magen David is titled Hatikvah and it is composed of the words of our national hymn with adornments in the shape of hearts, flowers and Star of David, in the hope that our vision to become a free nation in our land will come true.
IMHO the Jewish people’s most prominent characteristic is the hope for Redemption which is symbolized by the Star of David, the Star of Redemption as Franz Rosenzweig called it.
Most people don't know that Hatikvah, (The Hope) was much longer in the original poem than it is now. 
Copyrights: Anat Aderet

Cheapening The Holocaust

Ido Keinan quotes on his blog from Hagar Zimerman’s suggestion in the Forum of Green Leaf, her movement, to make a provocation towards next Marijuana Day- to prepare a yellow leaf, similar to the Yellow Badge, because she thinks that what the public is doing to Marijuana users is similar to what the Nazis did to Jews in the Holocaust. This proposition got many comments e.g. Noam wrote that the Israelis would react to this suggestion in the same way they reacted to the Orange Badge – in other words: they will hate it.

UFO

Rami Oshri reported on 18th February 2006 in Hebrew on the web site of Idan Hadly that On Succoth 2005 at 20:30 a UFO in the shape of a Hexagram was seen above the old train station in Kfar Yehoshua.

Yellow Badge Painters

I started collecting photos of paintings in which there are Yellow Badges. My first impression is that close to the holocaust the Yellow Badges in these paintings were small and realistic and only closer to our days they became big and abstract. It seems that memory intensifies this unique emblem.

In order to see what I found till now search on this site for:
Dr. Martin Kieselstein
Samuel Bak
Yaakov Agam
Jacques Heller
Roni Reuven
Reli Wasser
Zoya Cherkassky
felix nussbaum
Hersz Schilis
Helena Olomotzki
Esther Luria
Ella Liberman Shibber
Isic adolf feder
Jaques Gotko
Charlot Borschova
Eric Vanounou
Robert Fisch
Akiva Kenneth Segan

P.S.
Self Portrait of painter Isaac Celnikier