Having been a resident of Port for 37 years with many friends there I thoughts this release would be of interest to many...
“Art as Conscience"—Aaron Morgan’s Art at the Holocaust Museum in Glen Cove
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Rarely do a venue and the artist it exhibits have the synergy that the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County and the Holocaust art of Aaron Morgan share. The Center has gone through major changes and one of them is their newly refurbished art gallery. The Mission of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County is to teach the history of the Holocaust and its lessons through education and community outreach. They teach about the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism, bullying and all other manifestations of intolerance and by promoting resistance to prejudice and being an advocate of respect for every human being they are at the forefront of this fight.
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To better teach these lessons their home has recently been transformed. The result is a significant, state-of-the-art, multi-media exhibit and learning center featuring artifacts, photos, archival footage and videos spanning the beginnings of the Holocaust through the genocides of today. They have added to that lesson by choosing the Holocaust art show: "Art as Conscience-Remember!” by Aaron Morgan as their first art exhibit. The exhibition of Morgan’s art will be shown from March 14th through April 15th, 2011
Morgan truly understands the essence of “art and memory.” His Holocaust art is not about death, horror, victims or perpetrators; it is about the need for educating the world against intolerance and to remind the viewers of the need to stand-up against bigotry; this exhibit is truly moving experience both artistically and spiritually. His symbolic imagery has the potential to guide and unite the viewer in their experience of the events and history of the Shoah. Few works of art on the Holocaust are as moving as his “Deportation: Alone in a Crowd” and “The Face of Silence and Apathy.” These pieces have been able to capture with color and semi-literal form, the impression of tragedy and violence without the unbridled discomfort associated with the subject.
He believes in the symbolism of art and yet Morgan’s art not only tells a story but bears witness. His work disproves the argument that the Holocaust is unrepresentable. His art has the ability to educate and not shock. He has taken art to a new level; a jumping off point to continue the dialogue about past genocides and how to avoid future ones. His cerebral images almost tend to be seen as sacred and yet they are tools to bring the individuals closer to the truth and engage them into the Holocaust dialogue.
Morgan’s Holocaust art has previously been seen at Hebrew Union College, Krasdale Galleries in the Bronx and White Plains under the auspices of noted curator Sigmund Balka, Peter Wilhelm Galleries in Budapest, The Community Synagogue, The University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies’ Virtual Museum. Recently one of his Holocaust works has been requested to represent American art by the United States State Department.
Captions:
1-Aaron Morgan with “The Face of the Holocaust-Anne Frank” This painting was exhibited in Budapest in honor of what would have been Anne Frank’s 80th birthday last June.
2- The Face of Silence and Apathy: This sculpture was chosen by the Art in Embassies Program of the U.S, State Department to represent American art abroad. It will hang in the United States embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was chosen to provoke discussion and reflection, particularly on issues of social justice and social/moral responsibility and to reflect on the Holocaust and its implications in today’s world.
3- Deportation-Alone in a Crowd.
4- Aaron Morgan
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