Karen Liebowitz
Liebowitz's art has played a big part in my imagination since I met her in Seattle seven years ago. She has worked intensely with Jewish myth, compellingly juxtaposing the most traditional with the most heretical. A major theme of her work has been the place of figurative imagery in a religion that eschews images. Most of her work also plays with putting the Torah and tradition into the hands and bodies of women.
The very small sample reproduced below includes straightforward meditation on Jewish, and Kabbalistic, themes ("With Roots in Heaven - Tree of Life"), Miriam as the holder of the messianic promise ("Miriam's Cups"), and the red heifer as the proverbial white donkey of a female messiah adorned with bells ("The Inspector").
Other series not represented here include a vibrant cycle on Solomon as both judge and idolater, the Sabbath Bride as woman adorned in a Torah mantle and crown, and Eris (the Greek Goddess of chaos) bound and trussed as the offering of the Passover Seder meal.
One of the older motifs in Liebowitz's work is the incorporation of illuminations from medieval manuscripts, as in "Mada", which draws on manuscripts of Sefer Hamada (i.e. the book of science), from Maimonides Mishneh Torah. More often she superimposes these illuminations directly onto contemporary figures of women (and sometimes men). In the Solomon cycle, illuminations of Solomon with the sword of judgment interact with figures suggestively playing with Torah yads (pointers) or engaged with or examining both small idols of golden calves and red heifers.
The last two pieces shown here, on the revival or resurrection of the Phoenix, draw on themes that are culturally more universal, though the Phoenix also appears in midrash. Once again, the phoenix is a symbol not only of redemptive hope and completion, but also of woman becoming the agent of redemption.
These final pieces represent Liebowitz's more recent work, while the more thickly Jewish pieces are in an older style. More of Liebowitz's Phoenix and Red Heifer series, as well as other work, can be viewed on the website of her Los Angeles gallery, Rosamund Felsen. [Note: The photos here are my own - professional ones can be found on the website.]
