Center Art Gallery
Spoelhof College Center
3201 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI  49546
(616) 526-6271

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
 
Questions.Three Generations of Jewish Artists
Fritz Hirschberger, Art Spiegelman, and Cedar Nordbye

 
Questions. Three Generations of Jewish Artists, an exhibition of the Center Art Gallery of Calvin College, will run from August 27 through November 2, 2002. Works by Fritz Hirschberger, Art Spiegelman, and Cedar Nordbye will give viewers an opportunity to engage the ways in which different generations respond to experiences unique to Jewish heritage. 
 
Paintings by Fritz Hirschberger, a WWII political prisoner and Holocaust survivor, narrate the horror and indifference of the Holocaust through simple, yet dramatic imagery.  Images from MAUS, the Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip by Art Spiegelman, show how the son of Holocaust survivors has confronted events that defined his parents’ generation.  Cedar Nordbye, a local artist, addresses more contemporary issues that face Jewish Americans today, such as Jewish victimization and relations with the state of Israel.  Though working from different perspectives, all three artists use a cartoon-like style that makes their images accessible to the public as tools for knowledge and emblems to remember pertinent issues. 
 
Engagement of Questions. Three Generations of Jewish Artists will be furthered by lectures by Stephen C. Feinstein, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocidal Studies, Randy Bytwerk, a Calvin professor and specialist in Nazi propaganda, among many others.  Throughout the exhibition viewers will be challenged to address the following questions: How do ordinary people become mass murderers while maintaining a normal family life?  How did so many countries, as well as religious institutions, become inactive bystanders to the Holocaust?  What is the most durable method by which the Holocaust will be remembered?
 
Sponsorship for these events is supported by Michigan Council of Arts and Humanities.
 
The barrier-free Center Art Gallery, located on the lower level of the Spoelhof College Center, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.  There is no admissioncharge.  For more information call (616) 957-6271.