Sunday, May 13, 2007

Israeli Trees

Israeli art Magen Davidphoto is courtesy of Israeli artist Dick Ben Dor
John Byle, Professor of art, wrote about Dick Ben Dor’s work:
Dick Ben Dor creates a magical enchanted world which charms and captivates our senses. His work is open, frank and innocent, artless in a positive sense.
Email Dick Ben Dor: dickbendor@yahoo.com
All rights reserved to Dick Ben Dor 2007.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Prayer

Israeli art Magen Davidphoto is courtesy of Israeli artist Dick Ben Dor.
His friend, Jacques Heller, wrote:
Painting is the way that man’s ideas, like tender plants, ripen into fruition. In the art of Dick Ben Dor, his colors sing. His world of symbols breaks through the barriers of life in a fusion of fantastic shapes that offer his audience a philosophical outlook into creation.
Email Dick Ben Dor: dickbendor@yahoo.com
All rights reserved to Dick Ben Dor 2007

Dick Ben Dor, Prayer

Israeli art Magen DavidThe canvas of this work has the shape of a Magen David
Email Dick Ben Dor: dickbendor@yahoo.com
All rights of the above photo are reserved to Dick Ben Dor.

Look at the Israeli Sky

Magen David israeli art
Dick Ben Dor was born in 1936 in Amsterdam Holland. He survived the Holocaust and since then he lives in Israel. 
Email Dick Ben Dor: dickbendor@yahoo.com
All rights reserved to Dick Ben Dor 2007. Green Magen David appears in the center of this work, as well as the shape of the canvas.  Dick Ben Dor has dozens  of paintings in which the shape of the canvas is the Magen David.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Akiva Kenneth Segan

Akiva Kenneth Segan, 57, is an artist from Seattle, Washington. He made in 2000 a big-sized work of art titled Shoah Dreams, which shows artist Felix Nussbaum as he looked on his “Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card” (with his yellow badge) but with wings.  Wings appear on all of Akiva Kenneth Segan's drawings of Holocaust victims. 

Dr. Martin Kieselstein

Yellow BadgeDr. Martin Kieselstein, holocaust surviver, 82, exhibited his paintings on 22.04.2006 in The Jerusalem Artists' House under the title “I was there my mind and my heart still wounded”. One of his paintings is called: me, my personal number, the yellow patch and the prisoner’s uniform.
Copyright: Dr. Martin Kieselstein 2007

Beth Grossman

Yellow BadgePhoto 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.