FusionArts Museum is pleased to announce “LAMED VAV” an exhibit by New York artist Shalom Neuman. The work combines painting, sculpture, sound, video and light and will encourage
audience participation.
The title is taken from the ancient mystical Jewish concept in the Babylonian Talmud of th... Read more
FusionArts Museum is pleased to announce “LAMED VAV” an exhibit by New York artist Shalom Neuman. The work combines painting, sculpture, sound, video and light and will encourage
audience participation.
The title is taken from the ancient mystical Jewish concept in the Babylonian Talmud of the “Lamed Vav”, 36 righteous men (hidden saints) on whose merit the world continues to exist, even in the face of such tragedies as the wars in the Middle East and the genocide in Darfur. This concept has been interpreted visually by Mr. Neuman in his latest series.
These 36 fusion artworks (9 on exhibit) should be viewed as a political and social commentary on the current state of the world, focusing on man’s inhumanity to man. The Holocaust of WW II, the Rwanda genocide, the Cambodian genocide and the genocide committed by the Serbs against the Muslims in Bosnia are all referenced on a video which plays on a continuous loop in three of the artworks. Each video is accompanied by the haunting cello solo composed and performed for this series by cellist Adam Fisher.
In keeping with the Jewish mourning ritual of placing a small pebble on top of the tombstone when visiting a loved one’s grave, the artist has provided multicolored pebbles for visitors to place on the shelf in each art work. In this way, visitors can memorialize the victims of genocides past and present while simultaneously adding their own artistic voice to the artwork by the addition of the colorful “mourning” stones. There will be a guest book for visitors to write their thoughts in, similar to the ones made available for guests at funerals. Selections from the book will be read aloud at the closing night reception.
