Visiting Professor Addresses Role of Religious Heritage in Art
THE EXPONENT
By Haley Checkley
INDIANA --- A visiting speaker Monday attempted to make her audience more aware of Jewish artists, their creative work and why it may be so obscure. Krannert Auditorium hosted “Beatified but not canonized: Jewish American artists and the formation of the American art canon,” a presentation focused on bringing the Jewish tagline back to the forefront of attention, on Monday night. Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history at Cleveland State University, was the speaker and sought to answer why oftentimes the Jewish background in famous Jewish American artists such as Louise Nevelson or Chaim Gross often is forgotten or hidden from attention. If these artists were discussed on popular social networking sites such as Twitter, it is likely that ‘#Jewish’ would not be a tagline that is associated with them. Baskind said there was a discomfort in the 20th century of discussing biblical work, a situation she attributed to the unpopularity of some Jewish artwork. “Art that is grounded in identity is passé right now. This art that claims an identity has been dismissed by some critics,” she said.[link]
By Haley Checkley
INDIANA --- A visiting speaker Monday attempted to make her audience more aware of Jewish artists, their creative work and why it may be so obscure. Krannert Auditorium hosted “Beatified but not canonized: Jewish American artists and the formation of the American art canon,” a presentation focused on bringing the Jewish tagline back to the forefront of attention, on Monday night. Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history at Cleveland State University, was the speaker and sought to answer why oftentimes the Jewish background in famous Jewish American artists such as Louise Nevelson or Chaim Gross often is forgotten or hidden from attention. If these artists were discussed on popular social networking sites such as Twitter, it is likely that ‘#Jewish’ would not be a tagline that is associated with them. Baskind said there was a discomfort in the 20th century of discussing biblical work, a situation she attributed to the unpopularity of some Jewish artwork. “Art that is grounded in identity is passé right now. This art that claims an identity has been dismissed by some critics,” she said.[link]
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