Samuel Abelow recounts a lively exchange with artist Maurizio Cattelan outside "A Hug From the Art World" gallery. Curious about Abelow's tzitzit, Cattelan's questions spark a conversation about Jewish customs, spirituality, and cultural misconceptions. Through humor and storytelling, Abelow offers insights into faith and identity, bridging cultural gaps in an unexpected meeting of art and tradition.
Read MoreScenes from the Soul: Francesco Clemente, the Upper East Side Art World /
In a vivid interplay between the NYC art world and studio solitude, this essay explores Francesco Clemente's star-studded show alongside the writer's own mystical painting practice, uncovering shared esoteric themes. From gallery encounters to personal revelations, it reveals art as both a social celebration and a deeply personal affirmation.
Read MoreIdentity in Diaspora: A Kaleidoscope of the Personal & Universal /
A highly personal statement weaves together psychoanalysis and artistic process.
Read MoreA Conversation With Julian Schnabel /
Now, Julian Schnabel was right in front of me. There was a tall blonde woman in a black dress to his right – I think that is his current wife. And there was the blonde boy clinging to the painter’s jacket. I went up to Mr. Schnabel.
I said, “Hello Rabbi Schnabel, I have a question for you.”
Read MoreEpilogue: Synchronicity & Living Beyond Separateness /
I profess in writing, in songs and to friends, about how I see synchronicity and how God’s hashgacha pratis is in everything, and here I was, I was tested! The frustration built up and I prayed out loud, which led to this outreach conversation. The relationship between the identity of this young woman and my painting of Sheba was an obvious synchronicity. However this was just the icing on the cake; Gods way of winking at me, that there was a meaning behind all those inconveniences of my commute. The deeper meaning here is the enforcing that there is always a meaning, a connection to the Greater Being.
Read MoreSynchronicity in the City: A Mystical Bud Light /
Outside, the eerily warm ambience set the stage for me to get Kendra's reaction to my latest music recording, a sort of irony packed pop tune like The1975 or Lana Del Rey, but with a Jewish slant.
Read MoreSynchronicity in the City: Why Art, Why a World? /
I inspect the meticulous layers and sophisticated use of color: “The discipline and commitment to a particular mode and approach in a serious way, makes EJ’s works art.” I pause, “The paintings seem rather buyable to me. There’s a decorative value to them. I could imagine a young live streamer with expendable income putting that lime green one on the wall.” Another pause, “And then, there's also effort and intention involved. One person makes a doodle on the back of their homework, another invests a year investigating doodles on large format canvases and puts it in a gallery for commercial sale. Is not the intention and follow-through relevant to what defines art?”
Read MoreJewish Art in Times of War: How We Can Creatively Combat Antisemitism /
On October 7th, about two weeks before this excursion described above, Hamas infamously attacked civilians in Southern Israel. The terrorists performed barbaric acts. The mystic asks: Where is this Hamas in me? That is the red fox. My own inner animal, which when left untamed, can do the unspeakable.
I traveled to the university museum on a Wednesday. That previous Saturday, as the Sabbath came to a close, my friend Levi Paris asleep upstairs, I flipped through the New Yorker – a magazine subscription my parents have had for decades. The very last page was an advertisement for an exhibition at the local university gallery: In Real Times - Arthur Szyk:
Read MoreSummer Painting Retreat: Fruition of the Soul /
I began the summer painting season (June 21) with a succession of varied works on paper: my princess, a metaphor for the soul, in a state of gem-like regal serenity. I slashed away at old canvases with oil sticks, inspired by the Spencer Lewis Russel and Oscar Murillo paintings.
What did these two disparate interests have in common? (That is, the Princess-Soul, and these rugged modern painters) The Feminine Archetype, of course.
According to the model of psychologist C.G. Jung, as well as Jewish Mystical thought (Chassidut), the feminine is symbolized by earth. Painting utilizes earthly substances – oils and pigment. [Note from Johaness, editor: Heidegger speaks of painting as “earth”/”dirt”.] Therefore painting is an investigation of the feminine domain – an expression of the uniting of the intellectual & physical, the spiritual & material, a Uniting of Heaven & Earth, of the Masculine & Feminine.
Read MoreNaudline Cluvie Pierre's Paintings and the Interwoven Black and Jewish Histories /
This essay explores how Naudline Cluvie Pierre’s mystical paintings have a profound impact on the expression of blackness in America. Written from the perspective of a Jewish-American author, it uncovers the intricate connections between black and Jewish histories, highlighting their respectful interactions and distinct yet intertwined experiences.
By examining Pierre's symbolism, such as serpents, faces, and flames, the essay delves into the artist's ability to evoke profound narratives of transformation. It celebrates Pierre's role in creating a space where black audiences find representation while fostering a universal sense of connection that transcends cultural boundaries.
Read MoreMugler At Brooklyn Museum: Glamour Pushed to the Limit /
Mugler is quoted as saying that all of his work was to make people “appear stronger than they actually are.” But, I felt that my fascination with his pieces was that they make the woman appear outside of this world, as if soaring in a spiritual world.
That is why the highlight piece from the show – which I agree with the Brooklyn Museum curators on – is most certainly the woman that is “part tuna and part bird”, as I said on camera. Her headpiece extends out with gorgeous black and teal wings, and her bosom and torso has scales, like armor – yes – but like a vision that Ezekiel might’ve had as well.
Read MoreAnselm Kiefer: My Encounter with the German Titan of Painting /
Anselm Kiefer is a titan of painting. He is the only living painter with a work at the Louvre. As an American jewish artist, who is studying at a yeshiva, it was especially meaningful that Kiefer, a German artist, approached jewish themes. Our conversation was memorable and is documented in this blog.
Read MoreIdentity, Self & World: Portraying the Tensions of Jewish Tradition, Depth Psychology and Art /
This latest artist statement outlines a framework for the artist who is a jewish man – myself. The historical conflict between avant-garde art and tradition is the foremost among other complexities of our collective past that I seek to harmonize in my current work.
Read MoreA Heroic Sort of Journey /
I have felt a sense of chaos and disorder and pain in my life. I produce talismans to help myself with this. These images harness emotion and bring coherence to my fragmented sense of world and self. Today, after many years of working with symbolic images, I have obtained a more clear sense of self – recognizing my Jewish ancestry and ethnic identity. Art is my way of communicating: I want to help transform and develop our collective conversations and impact individual lives, which are interconnected through culture.
Read MoreVision of the Artist in Society /
I once believed that we could all be like artists — heroically discovering our own path (in the Rankian sense). That every individual was a unique factor — in the Jungian sense — able to determine their potentiality into life expression through the development of awareness of what interests & inspires them. I believed in Individuation as a cause. But, I’m not sure I buy that now; I’m not sure that this is enough.
Read MoreThe Nude Body in Art: Charting the Shadowy Beginnings of Art /
In antiquities, there was a social complex between the promiscuity, child-sacrifice, in relation to the great mother archetype, as a totality that induced tensions with various forming cultures and their cults. The hero, as an early masculine identity and myth, is the typology that resists the dissolving effects of the maternal unconscious. The development of moral structures and social codes is strengthened by a concentration on the hero archetype, representing the masculine in the struggle against the maternal unconscious.
Read MoreNYC Art Criticism on Video: Meaning, Beauty & Personality /
With the East Coast of America opening up again, I am pursuing coverage of the art world with videos.
Read MoreThe Nude Body in Art: Introduction & Art Historical Foundation /
A previous article, simply titled, “The Nude Body in Art” is one of the most viewed posts on this website. It is therefore prudent to ask once more: Why is there so much nudity in art? The nude body in art had a special place in history, but there’s a new relationship to the nude body — as well as art itself — today. The history of the nude and of western art itself are, actually, the same. Art of the nude body was a necessary production in order to get in touch with the instincts, but in the new context today, there’s a different relationship to it.
Read MoreThe Creation of a Whole Self: The Art of Being & Becoming /
My work is an attempt to bring into focus the implicit search for meaning which was acted out throughout the history of art & design, mythic imagination & psychological theory, as well as religious practices. The resulting ORIGINS and SHEMA color systems are not only useful for aesthetics — great mysteries of alchemy, religion and developments in psychology are made plain to talk about. The words used to describe and explain the chart can be understood and used easily by artists, interior designers and fashionistas.
Read MoreThe Art of Painting: Materials /
The intention of this essay series is to provide an encyclopedia, a systematic overview, of my theory of the painterly craft. Beginning with nuances of materials, we will move through concepts of abstraction and representation to how to work with historical references and more.
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