WISDOM TRADITIONS: THROUGH AN ARTIST’S EYE.
An exhibit of the photography and prints of Hamden artist Judy Sirota Rosenthal opens at the Gallery of the Madison Arts Cinemas December 15 and runs through January 25, 2012. The exhibit is titled WISDOM TRADITIONS: THROUGH AN ARTIST’S EYE as Sirota Rosenthal presents how two traditions, particularly the Bali Hindu tradition and the Judaic tradition have provided her with inspiration and challenge over the last several years.
Sirota Rosenthal has been creating artwork partaking of and commenting on the richness of the thousands of years of the pursuit of wisdom and spirituality within the Judaic tradition, especially from the Kabbalah. In recent years she has studied wisdom traditions of the East and the Subcontinent and found herself particularly drawn to the traditions of the Bali Hindu society and made a trip there in 2006 bringing her eyes, her heart and her camera.
Sirota Rosenthal was drawn to the volcanic island by stories she heard that suggested that everyday life in Bali possessed a singular beauty and dignity. She was drawn to the faces, the landscape and the work of the artisans. She was curious about how the people of Bali have responded to their lives in the shadow of unpredictable volcanoes and demonstrate respect (even reverence) for natural forces—a contrast to the Western tendency to imply that humans can overcome natural forces.
Through introductions by a respected figure in the Balinese community Sirota Rosenthal was able to gain unusual access to ceremonies and rituals that not all visitors see. She was able to capture very close up the exquisite details of both the ritual objects of sacred ceremonies as well as everyday commercial street-life. The exhibit presents a wide selection her photographs of Bali. These photographs show intimacy with the people, the ceremonies and the landscape and thereby go well beyond tourist fare.
Sirota Rosenthal commented: In Bali, reverence is part of daily life represented by hand-made offerings of palm leaf baskets, flowers, rice anywhere that are everywhere: in the streets, on motorbikes, at the entrances to shops …. While modernity encroaches upon it, the Balinese Hindu culture sustains the old traditions…dance, art, puppetry, rice farming, and ceremonies…. It is the glue and fabric of life that hold the communities together.”
As an interesting contrast, the exhibit also features work drawn from Sirota Rosenthal’s longtime involvement with wisdom of the Jewish tradition. She has created mezuzot and other ritual objects and an evolving set of art prints. In the art prints shown in this exhibition Judy takes a phrase from prayer or commentary sources and renders that phrase graphically in her hand along with carefully applied non-representational stampings, and other layers of color. While the phrases have been around for many many years, judy’s non-traditional way of serving them to the viewer provides fresh experience and perspective. The prints are designed to provide the viewer with another path to access the depths of spirit.
Sirota Rosenthal has received grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Her work has been shown in numerous museums and galleries in North America, including Yeshiva University Art Museum, Aldrich Museum, Chesterwood Museum, the Skirball Museums, and Spertus Museum. Her work is in private collections around the country.
Judy does event, family/portrait, and documentary photography in New York and New England, from her base in Hamden, Connecticut. She also travels with families and organizations to destinations where an event or project is taking place.
Judy integrates the wisdom from Kabbalistic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Shamanic practices, in her healing practice, also in Hamden.
The Madison Art Cinemas are located at 761 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT
