In Response to NEXTBOOK's Robin Cembalist "Painting The Town"http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=332
The discussion about Jewish art and culture always mystifies me. Do we have the same discussion about the African-American influence on jazz? Do we wonder if Western art and culture were influenced by Christianity?
There is a distinctive nature to art created by Jews and of course the closer they are to their Jewishness the more distinctive it is. Denying whether Chagall created Jewish art is like saying Da Vinci's The Last Supper isn't about Christianity. (I guess that is what the Da Vinci Codes are about)
As for Jewish art that isn't so apparently Jewish (which mught be found by "cool Jews") there is an aesthetic that enters into their work that mingles themes of loss, wandering, the outsider and righteousness with techniques of trans-chronicity, inter-textual narratives, multiple artistic forms, the intermingling of high art with popular culture, a highly developed self-consciousness. This can be seen in the works of Chaim Soutine to Modigliani, to David Mamet, to Wendy Wasserstein, Woody Allen, to Leonard Bernstein, and on and on.
Please see and join the conversation on www.livelyartsjewishculture.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment