"As winter sets in, the days become shorter and our time in darkness seems to grow without bound. If we could only sustain the light, celebrate it, make it linger with us just a little bit longer. . . That thought must have passed through the heads of a great number of individuals: it is no coincidence that Jews, Christians, and African-Americans all celebrate light in the midst of the year's darkest season.
"Chanukah's lights inspire this show, and the power of light takes over from there. Light is a formalistic element: the essence of so much artistic creation. Light is a metaphor, a symbol for that which we cherish. Light is energy traveling at myriad frequencies, playing with our eyes and hearts. This show speaks to us of light that is common to all of us: across a wide range of cultures, light expresses the spirit, its urgent need for growth and its yearning for the divine." From the exhibit "Six Diffractions on the Meaning of Light", curated by Karen Engel, Ella Monakova, and Karyn Riegel
"Six Diffractions on the Meaning of Light", the multi-media exhibit organized by students, for students, inaugurated the gallery at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University. "Six Diffractions" celebrated this year's Festival of Lights in a very different way. The open, elegant space of the Bronfman Center is perfectly suited to displaying creative work, and with the help of NYU's Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow Karyn Riegel, undergraduate Ella Monakova and I set the idea in motion. The curating committee chose the theme of Light in celebration of Chanukah and for its multiple resonances in distinct artistic mediums. They decided that the 2nd and 3rd floor galleries should be used exclusively to provide a much-needed display space for students and faculty. "There is a large vacancy in NYU's art scene, said Ella Monakova, a co-curator at the Bronfman Center Gallery. "By showing the artwork of faculty, alumni, and undergraduate students from all the schools at NYU, we are trying to fill that gap."
The Bronfman Center gallery committee is also interested in showcasing work by artists from outside the NYU community that examine Jewish themes in unique ways. The committee is also looking to bring shows curated by cultural institutions that offer a visual perspective on key moments in Jewish history. In November, the first floor gallery exhibited a display of early Zionist poster art, curated by the Israeli consulate. The gallery is currently showing a photographic documented history of the activities of the Yiddish Labor Bund entitled "The Story of the Bund", curated by YIVO. Early next semester, the gallery will exhibit paintings by Miriam Stern, stylistically influenced by de Chirico, and thematically informed by the three major components of the Jewish home.
"Six Diffractions" explored the theme of light and its meaning for artists of a variety of cultural and artistic backgrounds. The exhibit included work by six artists: Nuno Crisostomo's photographic series on old and new Jewish sights in Eastern Europe, Ariel Isidora Fried's drawings of important figures in Jewish thought, Hee Jung Kim's two installation pieces that integrated light and fabric to evoke personal memory, Soonok Jung's painted plexiglass etchings mounted on lights, Michael Blank's photographs that dealt with formal ways of using light, and Tisch photography student Naomi Taubman's photograph taken on the Israeli moshav of Meor Modi'in, where the war between the Israelites and the Greeks took place before the first Chanukah. Participants like Jung were influenced by light in a formal and personal manner. "Light comes out from the dark and lets all the colors free," Jung explained. "The colors in the light get together and form a strange world..... my past, present, and future."
"Six Diffractions" opened on December 4, a few weeks before Chanukah, and ran until February 1. It was so successful that the Bronfman Center Gallery was awarded a $1,000 Polk grant for future exhibitions. The next group exhibition of student work will open in April, focusing on the theme of The Extended Family. This show is restricted to photographic work and is being co-sponsored by the Bronfman Center Gallery's Curating Committee and members of the Tisch School for the Arts' photography department. NYU students and alumni of all backgrounds who express themselves photographically are invited to submit work for evaluation and possible display in the gallery. A committee of students from the Photography department and the Bronfman Center gallery will jury the submissions of photography and video-based work.
The Bronfman Center gallery will continue to curate exhibits that allow students access to a Jewish space and context to display their own work. Riegel feels that the project has amazing potential for growth. "Jewish self-expression should not be limited to Mezuzahs made from sculpy and Menorahs made of 2x4s. The fact that fantastic artists are exploring their Jewish identity as a major component in their creative work should tell us to pay attention! By making this available to students, and by offering them a chance to express themselves, we create means by which they articulate their own way of relating to their Jewish identity."
While plenty of people may not be interested in displaying artwork themselves, the gallery receptions are open to all. Once the sun-dried tomato dip is a distant memory, the exhibit remains to remind visitors of the range and variations in our new voices.
Karen Engel is an undergraduate at New York University.