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Yaacov Agam
b. 1928 in Israel; lives in Paris
Selected Collections/Honors:
Museum of Modern Art, NY;
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of the
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Jan Amos
Comenius Medal by UNESCO
Jacob’s Ladder,
1986
Wool tapestry; 72" x 72"
Gift of Denise and Julius Edelman
A contemporary sculptor and experimental artist, Agam is a leading
pioneer of kinetic sculpture, which rose to popularity in the 1950s-
60
s. Influenced by his rabbi and Kabbalist father, Agam focuses his
art on visual interpretations of religious beliefs and the theory that
spiritual experience is encountered through dynamic movement.
Rina Arbel
b. 1934 in Israel; lives in Tel Aviv
Selected Exhibitions:
Barbican, London; Musée des Beaux-Arts
d’Angers, France; Jerusalem Theater, Israel
Judean Hills,
1988-89
Wool and cotton tapestry; 52" x 49.5"
Collection of Mildred Weissman
In 1978 Arbel took advantage of the emerging trend of women
working with textiles and focused her artistic efforts on weaving
tapestries. Her woven works begin as drawings: “I drew a number
of paths in free hand on paper, then made transparencies and put
them one on top of the other. When it felt ‘right’ I worked on
large movement drawings indicating to myself possible coloring,
working them until they felt right. These are my
paths
.”
Andi Arnovitz
b. 1959 in Kansas City, MO; lives in Israel
Selected Exhibitions:
International Printmakers Triennale,
Paris; Jerusalem Print Workshop; Breman Jewish Museum,
GA; Kniznick Gallery, MA
Coat of the Agunah,
2010 [
Image on front cover.]
Digital scans of antique
ketubbot
,
thread; 62.5" x 58"
Arnovitz examines the relationship between feminism and
Judaism with her use of a traditional female art form –
sewing. In
Coat of the Agunah
(
the coat of the “chained”
woman), she used the same laborious techniques that
women have used for centuries to share their creativity.
Both the garment and the technique are commentaries on
the relationship between Judaism and the role of the female
within it. The garment embodies the suffering of women
due to restrictive Orthodox laws prohibiting them to divorce
their husbands without special consent.