Jewish Museum Exhibition And Program Listings July, August, September 2008

Jewish Museum Exhibition And Program Listings July, August, September 2008

NEW EXHIBITION

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS: MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

September 21, 2008 through January 4, 2009

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was one of the archaeological sensations of the 20^th century.  Objects of ancient religious observance and intense modern scholarly debate, these parchment texts were found, starting in 1947, in caves in the Judean Desert, east of Jerusalem and near the Dead Sea.  Created over 2,000 years ago, the scrolls turned out to contain previously unknown Jewish compositions as well as the oldest surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.  When biblical scholars first learned of these texts, they were electrified by their potential for new revelations about Judaism and Christianity.  Over time, some 900 separate scrolls were found in neighboring caves. They are collectively called the Dead Sea Scrolls.   The new exhibition, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World, features fragments of six scrolls, which have never been seen in New York City before.  Three of the scrolls are being exhibited for the first time anywhere.  Treasured and revelatory, the Dead Sea Scrolls on display, together with over 30 artifacts discovered at Qumran, near the caves where the documents were found, will provide unique insights into the lives of ancient peoples and the formulation of modern religious practice.  A seven-minute film will further enrich the visitor experience.  This exhibition represents the collaboration between the Israel Antiquities Authority and The Jewish Museum.  All of the objects are from the National Treasures of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

PRESS PREVIEW – Wednesday, September 17, 10 am – 1 pm

NEW MEDIA CENTER EXHIBITION

MOTHER ECONOMY: A FILM BY MAYA ZACK

July 1 through October 23, 2008

The 19-minute film Mother Economy: A Film by Maya Zack is a meditation on Holocaust remembrance and an homage to the resourcefulness of Jewish women. In Mother Economy, a homemaker (portrayed by Idit Neuderfer) wearing glasses and a lace-collared blouse, her hair neatly arranged in a bun, maintains order and composure by performing household rituals with scientific precision.  Efficient and focused, the woman locates and identifies objects belonging to absent family members while radio broadcasts in the background suggest war, destruction, and chaos outside her controlled domestic space.  Using a marker, she traces a tennis racquet, cigarette ash, pocket change, and other personal artifacts on paper covering the walls and floors.  The paper is pink, a color associated with financial newspapers and femininity.  She proceeds to catalog objects before her.  Using formulas from a notebook and an abacus, she bakes a round kugel (noodle pudding) which is cut to resemble an economic pie chart.  Both the artist and the fictional character struggle to make sense of personal and collective trauma when information is scarce.  Zack’s film was strongly influenced by a visit to her grandmother’s former house in Kosice, a city in present-day Slovakia.  Unable to enter the house, Zack tried to imagine the interiors – both present and past.  For the film’s set, Zack incorporates period clothing and furniture, but it remains an incomplete sketch of the past.

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

WARHOL’S JEWS: TEN PORTRAITS RECONSIDERED

Through August 3, 2008

Warhol’s Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered is on view at The Jewish Museum through August 3, 2008.  When it premiered in 1980, Andy Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century was met with both admiration and hostility.  The series depicts such luminaries of Jewish culture as Sarah Bernhardt, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, the Marx Brothers, Golda Meir, and Franz Kafka, among others.  On view in this exhibition are the photographs that Warhol used as source images, several preliminary sketches, a preparatory collage, an edition of the final silk-screen print portfolio (of which 200 were published), and one of the five complete sets of paintings that he made for the series.  The drawings and source photographs have not previously been exhibited alongside the finished pictures.  Additional materials related to the portraits, including the list of nearly 100 “famous Jews” prepared by Warhol’s dealer, and television coverage of the artist’s trip to Miami for the world premiere of the series, shed light on their creation and display.  Following its New York City showing, the exhibition will travel to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA (October 12, 2008 – January 25, 2009).

ART, IMAGES AND WARHOL CONNECTIONS

Through August 3, 2008

In the mini-exhibition, Art, Image and Warhol Connections, works by seven artists who directly respond to Andy Warhol or employ techniques often associated with Warhol’s oeuvre are on view.  Warhol and themes central to his practice – such as current events, consumer culture and the superstar – are seen reflected through 26 works by a multi-generational group of artists, including Deborah Kass, Alex Katz, Abshalom Jac Lahav, Adam Rolston, Ben Shahn, Devorah Sperber and June Wayne.  In the 1960s and 1970s, Shahn, Wayne and Katz developed new ways to portray the public personas of private individuals.  In the 1990s, artists such as Kass, Rolston and Sperber cast a critical yet admiring eye on Warhol to address his omissions and limitations. Emerging painter Abshalom Jac Lahav elaborates and subsumes subjects of Warhol’s Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century in his own ongoing portraiture project.  Directly or indirectly, these artists extend and transform Warhol’s legacy.

ACTION/ABSTRACTION: POLLOCK, DE KOONING, AND AMERICAN ART, 1940-1976

Through September 21, 2008

In Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976, the first major U.S. exhibition in 20 years to rethink Abstract Expressionism and the movements that followed, fifty key works by 31 artists – among them Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko – are viewed from the perspectives of rival art critics, the artists, and popular culture.  Beginning in the 1940s, artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning created paintings and sculptures that catapulted American art onto the international stage, making New York City the successor to prewar Paris as the mecca for the avant-garde. Two art critics played a crucial role in the reception of the new American painting and sculpture — the highly influential New York intellectuals Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg.  In the pages of magazines as diverse as Partisan Review, The Nation, The New Yorker, ARTnews, and Vogue, these critics wrote incisively about seismic changes in the art world, often disagreeing with each other vehemently.  Their advocacy propelled the artists and their art to the forefront of the public imagination.  By the late 1950s, Pollock and de Kooning were virtually household names and Abstract Expressionism was widely known throughout America and internationally.  Action/Abstraction presents major paintings and sculptures from this decisive era, surveying the first generation of Abstract Expressionists as well as later artists who built on their achievements.  Context rooms in the exhibition feature personal correspondence, magazines and newspapers, film and television clips, and photographs that shed light on the cultural and social climate of the 1940s to the 1970s.  The works in the exhibition, arranged in thematic sections, are grouped to evoke the rivalry of Greenberg and Rosenberg and the epic transformation of American art in the postwar period.  Following its New York City showing, Action/Abstraction will travel to the Saint Louis Art Museum from October 19, 2008 to January 11, 2009, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY from February 13 to May 31, 2009.  The exhibition has been organized by The Jewish Museum, in collaboration with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Saint Louis Art Museum.

CHILDREN’S EXHIBITION

ARCHAEOLOGY ZONE: DISCOVERING TREASURES FROM PLAYGROUNDS TO PALACES

Through June 15, 2009

In Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures from Playgrounds to Palaces, an engaging and thoroughly interactive experience, children become archaeologists  as they search for clues about ancient and modern objects.  Visitors can discover what happens after archaeologists unearth artifacts and bring them back to their labs for in-depth analysis.  Children ages 3 through 10 magnify, sketch and weigh objects from the past and the present, piece together clay fragments, interpret symbols, and dress in costumes.  By examining these artifacts and imagining how people used these objects in their daily lives, children learn how forms have changed and evolved over time, and how these objects relate to their own lives.

MEDIA CENTER

THE BARBARA AND E. ROBERT GOODKIND MEDIA CENTER

The Barbara and E. Robert Goodkind Media Center features an exhibition space dedicated to video and new media, and houses a digital library of 100 radio and television programs from The Jewish Museum’s National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting (NJAB).  Selections include such comedy favorites as “How to Be a Jewish Son,” a panel discussion from a 1970 David Susskind Show featuring the incomparable Mel Brooks; a 1947 radio drama entitled “Operation Nightmare” starring John Garfield and Al Jolson, produced by the United Jewish Appeal to call attention to displaced persons in postwar Europe; contemporary television documentaries on black-Jewish relations, Latino Jews, Jewish feminism, and klezmer music; interviews with artists such as Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipchitz, Larry Rivers, George Segal and Ben Shahn; and Manischewitz wine commercials produced between 1963 and 1981 featuring Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford.

PERMANENT EXHIBITION

CULTURE AND CONTINUITY: THE JEWISH JOURNEY

This vibrant, two-floor exhibition examines the Jewish experience as it has evolved from antiquity to the present over 4,000 years. Visitors to the 4th floor see the Ancient World galleries, featuring archaeological objects representing Jewish life in Israel and the Mediterranean region from 1200 BCE to 640 CE, and a dazzling installation of selections from the Museum’s renowned collection of Hanukkah lamps.  On the 3rd floor alone close to 400 works from the 16th century to the present are now on view in this dramatic and evocative experience.

        Other highlights of Culture and Continuity include: a pair of silver Torah finials from Breslau, Germany (1792-93) reunited at The Jewish Museum after sixty years of separation; paintings by such artists as Max Weber, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Isidor Kaufmann, Morris Louis, and Ken Aptekar; prints by Marc Chagall and El Lissitzky; and sculpture by Elie Nadelman.  A display of 38 Torah ornaments allows the viewer to compare artistic styles from different parts of the world.  It features lavishly decorated Torah crowns, pointers, finials and shields from Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ottoman Empire (Greece and Turkey), Georgia (of the former Soviet Union), Morocco, Israel, Italy, early 20th century Palestine, Persia, Poland, Russia, Tunisia, the United States, and Yemen.  Television excerpts from the Museum’s National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting are also included.  The entire exhibition is comprised of close to 800 works and is accompanied by a series of thematic, random access audio guides using MP3 technology, including a Director’s Highlights Tour with The Jewish Museum’s Director Joan Rosenbaum and WNYC Radio’s Brian Lehrer.

        The portraits of the Levy-Franks family, attributed to Gerardus Duyckinck and dating from the 1720s to 1735, are the most extensive surviving group of Colonial American portraiture.  The Jewish Museum will be exhibiting six of them consecutively in pairs through June 2009 in Culture and Continuity.  The first two were on view through December 31, 2007, the second pair are on view from January through September 2008, and the third pair from October 2008 through June 2009.  These six paintings are from the collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, a new museum scheduled to open in 2009.  Spanning three generations, the works depict the German-born patriarch Moses Raphael Levy, his wife Grace Mears Levy, his daughter Abigaill Franks and her husband Jacob Franks, and five of their children. These paintings also hold a noteworthy place in American art as one of the oldest surviving family portrait series.

        A recently acquired suite of classic post-World War II works originally designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson and the prominent Abstract Expressionist sculptor Ibram Lassaw for Congregation Kneses Tifereth Israel in Port Chester, New York, is also on view in Culture and Continuity.  Included are sections of a large wall sculpture/bimah screen, the eternal lamp, the Torah ark, and two of the four bimah chairs.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Concert
SUMMERNIGHTS: SLAVIC SOUL PARTY!
Thursday, July 17, 8 pm

The musicians of Slavic Soul Party!- featuring Jacob Garchik, John Carlson, Brian Drye, Peter Stan,     Ben Holmes, Ron Caswell, Matt Moran and Oscar Noriega – forge virtuosic new brass band music, melding Gypsy, East European, Mexican, and Asian immigrant backgrounds with American jazz and soul.

Tickets: $15 general public; $12 students/over 65; $10 Jewish Museum members
Concert
SUMMERNIGHTS: THE KLEZ DISPENSERS
Thursday, July 24, 8 pm
This eight-piece ensemble – featuring Alex Kontorovich (clarinet, alto and baritone sax), Ben Holmes (trumpet), Amy Zakar (violin, mandolin), Audrey Betsy Welber (alto and tenor sax, clarinet), Susan Watts (vocals, trumpet), Adrian Banner (piano), Heather Chriscaden Versace (bass), and Gregg Mervine (drums) – employs both tradition and innovation, mixing old-school klezmer, a wide variety of  jazz styles, and avant-garde klezmer fusion to create state-of-the-art music.

Tickets: $15 general public; $12 students/over 65; $10 Jewish Museum members
FAMILY PROGRAMS

Mondays,  July 14 through August 18, 11:15 am – 12:15 pm

ART ADVENTURE MONDAYS                                           Ages 4 to 7

This special tour program for families features stories, sketching, and new themes each week.

Free with Museum admission

Monday,  September 8, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

STORYBOOK MONDAY – DRIP, SPLASH, SCRATCH, AND SPLATTER  Ages 3 to 5

Storybook readings and interactive family gallery tours.

Free with Museum admission

Sunday, September 14, 11:15 am – 12:15 pm

FAMILY GALLERY TOUR – POUR, SPLASH, DRIP                                Ages 5 to 12

A Museum educator will lead families on a tour of the exhibition, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976.  A sketching activity is included.

Free with Museum admission

Sunday, September 14, 2 pm

CONCERT: HAYES GREENFIELD                                               Ages 4 to 10
Jazz it up with Action/Abstraction!

Families can groove to the jazz of Hayes Greenfield as he celebrates the masters of Abstract Expressionism through sounds and rhythms inspired by paintings and sculptures from the exhibition, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976.

Tickets: $15 per adult; $10 per child; $12 adult Jewish Museum family member; $8 child family member

Mondays, September 15 to December 1, 9:30 am – 10:15 am,
OR 10:30 am – 11:15 am, OR 11:30 am – 12:15 pm

MUSIC CLASSES: MUSIC FOR AARDVARKS AND OTHER MAMMALS    Ages 1 to 4

Toddlers and their parents can dance, sing funky original tunes, and  create a jam session together in this series of classes. 

Registration fee: $460.00 per child;  $420.00 Jewish Museum family member

Class size is limited – early registration is recommended

Monday,  September 22, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

STORYBOOK MONDAY – ANCIENT EXPLORATIONS                 Ages 3 to 5

Storybook readings and interactive family gallery tours.

Free with Museum admission

Sunday, September 29, 2 pm

CONCERT: FUNKEY MONKEYS TWO SHOWS!                      Ages 2 to 6

Families can enjoy sweet tunes for the Jewish New Year as the Funkey Monkeys return to The Jewish Museum.  This unique band is a combination of Seinfeld, The Wiggles, The Muppet Show, and A Prairie Home Companion for toddlers.

Tickets: $15 per adult; $10 per child; $12 adult Jewish Museum family member; $8 child family member

Sundays beginning September 14, 1 to 4 pm

DROP-IN ART WORKSHOP                                                         Ages 3 and up

Families can participate in a hands-on drop-in art workshop focusing on Jewish holidays, the Museum’s collection, and special exhibitions and ticketed programs.

Free with Museum admission

Sundays beginning September 14

1:30 pm

STORYBOOK READINGS              Ages 2 to 6

Specially selected stories and Jewish tales told by a Museum educator with audience participation.

Free with Museum admission

Sundays, beginning September 14

3:30 pm

DRAW AND DISCOVER                                                       Ages 5 to 12

Participants can examine artworks and artifacts in Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, The Jewish Museum’s permanent exhibition, looking carefully at selected artworks and sketching what  they see.

Free with Museum admission

SERVICES FOR VISITORS WHO ARE BLIND OR PARTIALLY SIGHTED

The Jewish Museum offers open tours of its exhibitions for visitors who are blind or partially sighted. Museum docents are trained to lead Verbal Imaging tours.  All tours are free with museum admission.  A verbal imaging “Tea Time” tour is being offered on Tuesday, July 22 at 2:00 pm for the exhibition, Warhol’s Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered.  A verbal imaging “Tea Time” tour is being offered on Tuesday, September 9 for the exhibition, Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning and American Art, 1940-1976.  All participants are invited to join museum staff at a reception with light refreshments immediately following these tours.  “Tea Time” tours require pre-registration by calling the Scheduling and Access Coordinator.  A verbal imaging tour is also being offered on Monday, September 15 at 1:15 pm for Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976.  The Museum also offers Verbal Imaging and Touch Tours by appointment for groups.  Large Print Labels are available for all special exhibitions. To arrange for a tour, the public may contact the Scheduling and Access Coordinator at 212.423.3225.

SERVICES FOR VISITORS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING

The Jewish Museum offers open tours of its exhibitions for visitors who are deaf and hard of hearing on the second Monday and third Thursday of each month.  These 45-minute tours are led by a Jewish Museum docent who is accompanied by a certified sign language interpreter for the deaf.  All sign interpreted tours are free with Museum admission.  Assistive listening devices for the hard of hearing are available for all tours. An infrared assistive listening system for visitors who are hard of hearing is available for programs in the Museum’s S.H. and Helen R. Scheuer Auditorium.  Sign interpreted tours are also available by appointment. To arrange for a tour, the public may contact the Scheduling and Access Coordinator at 212.423.3225 or TTY 212.660.1515.

GENERAL INFORMATION

INFORMATION

HOTLINE:                To reach the Museum’s offices, call: 212.423.3200.

ONLINE

INFORMATION:    http://www.thejewishmuseum.org

OTHER                   Public and Family Programs                              212.423.3337

INFORMATION:    The Jewish Museum’s Cooper Shop                 212.423.3211

                        Celebrations – The Jewish Museum Design Shop            212.423.3260

MUSEUM AND CAFÉ WEISSMAN HOURS:

                        Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday            11:00 am to 5:45 pm

                        Thursday                                                        11:00 am to 8:00 pm

                        Friday                                                  CLOSED

                        CLOSED major legal and Jewish holidays

                        CAFÉ closes at 5:30 pm on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

                        and at 7:30 pm Thursday.  Café Weissman is closed on Friday and Saturday

                        NOTE: The children’s exhibition, Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures

                        from Playgrounds to Palaces, is open Sunday through Thursday (not on Saturday).

THE COOPER SHOP AND JEWISH MUSEUM DESIGN SHOP HOURS:

                        Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday                      11:00 am to 5:45 pm

                        Thursday        11:00 am to 8:00 pm

                                                (Design Shop closes at 5:45 pm)

                        Friday                                                          11:00 am to 3:00 pm

                        CLOSED Saturday and major legal and Jewish holidays

ADMISSION:

                        Adults          $12.00

                        Senior Citizens $10.00

                        Students        $  7.50

                        Children under 12       FREE

                        Jewish Museum Members   FREE

                        Saturdays                                               FREE

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