Why Do So Many Jewish Artists Like Creating Works for Churches?

Jews have created a startling number of works for churches in the modern era.  Some of the most prominent artists include Jacques Lipchitz, Marc Chagall, Jacob Epstein, Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, and Anthony Caro.  In fact, Rothko even declared he would only create work for a church, never a synagogue!  While these artists negotiated their Jewish identities differently, against distinctive Christian backdrops, the tensions that emerged from such engagements yielded fecund results, both artistically and theologically.

In his talk for the Art and Sacred Places AGM, Dr. Aaron Rosen will survey some of the most intriguing Jewish church commissions, including the Nevelson chapel in New York City, the subject of his forthcoming edited book, Religion and Art in the Heart of Modern Manhattan (Ashgate, 2015).  He will also draw on insights from his monograph Imagining Jewish Art (Legenda, 2009) and another forthcoming book, Spirituality in 21^st Century Art (Thames and Hudson, 2015).  Dr. Rosen is the Lecturer in Sacred Traditions and the Arts at King’s College London, and formerly taught at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia after receiving his PhD from Cambridge.

Date:  Wednesday 9th April 2014 from 18.00 to 20.00:  Room K0.18 (South Range 3), Building A, Strand Campus, Kings College London, WC2R 2LS.

Dr Rosen's talk will be immediately preceded by the Art and Sacred Places' Annual General Meeting.

The programme for the evening is:
18.00 - 18.15  Annual General Meeting
18.20 - 18.30  Introduction to Dr Aaron Rosen
18.30 - 19.00 Talk by Dr Aaron Rosen
19.00 - 19.30  Questions and Discussion
19.30 - 20.00  Refreshments

All are Welcome. There will be a small charge of £2.50 for members and £5 for non-members.

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Ravel - Kaddish for Cello and strings.