Marc Klionsky in the News
The Brandeis Hoot: Klionsky paints the Russian Jewish experience
The Brandeis Justice: Clashing identities connect in Klionsky's art
Marc Klionsky's Art Samples
Marc Klionsky's works epitomize his journey because they use brilliant colors to express the artistic freedom he found upon his arrival in the U.S. in 1974 side-by-side with his contrasting depictions of the oppression... read more
Painting the Face of Russian Jewry
PAINTING THE FACE OF RUSSIAN JEWRY:
The Art and Journey of Marc Klionsky
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Rapaporte Treasure Hall
Featuring Julian Olidort '11, Professor Antony Polonsky, Professor Nancy Scott, and a guest appearance by the artist.
The work of Marc Klionsky can be described as "Jewish political art" in the context of post-Second World War Soviet Union. To date only a handful of collections of Jewish artwork focuses on the social struggle in the former Soviet Union. This genre is rooted in the experience of Soviet citizens caught between the desperation of World War II and the dreams of Jewish nationhood arising from ashes. These dreams of solidarity mobilized an awakening of Jewish self-consciousness around the world, including the Soviet Union.
Klionsky's works mediate upon two themes in Soviet Jewry, which he experienced first-hand. The first is the struggle of realizing Jewishness in the hostile conditions of the Soviet Union. The second is facing the challenge of migrating to a new world and adapting to a new free home - in Klionsky's case, the New York City of the 1970s.
This body of work also addresses the profound personal dimensions surrounding how an artist who has once represented the expression of suffering in the former Soviet Union must confront a new world of religious and social liberation.
This event served as an exposition of Klionsky's work through a few periods, all representing an interaction with the struggle for social and religious freedom -- The struggle as seen through the lens of the Soviet Union, the transition from the Soviet Union, and a New York retrospective on survival.
Sponsored by the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry.
Cosponsored by European Cultural Studies, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Russian Studies, and the Brandeis Russian Club.