Join us in-person at IIJS on Wednesday, January 25, at 7:00 PM for a lecture by Mark Podwal, one of today’s foremost figures in American-Jewish art.
Tablet Magazine has called Mark Podwal “one of our great American Jewish artists.” Initially known for his drawings for The New York Times Op-Ed page, Podwal’s artworks have been exhibited and published worldwide. He is the author and illustrator of numerous books, many of which focus on Eastern European Jewish history, tradition, and folklore. His slide presentation will show images from his collaborations with Elie Wiesel, Harold Bloom, and Francine Prose. Slides will also include his series “Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka,” the Polish shtetl where his mother was born, as well as an image of the 13-foot mural he was asked to design for Dąbrowa’s high school wall. Moreover, his textiles for Prague’s gothic Altneuschul and Renaissance High Synagogue will be discussed along with his current series, “Reimagining Polish Synagogues as Jewish Ceremonial Objects.” Elie Wiesel wrote, in his catalogue essay for Podwal’s first Prague Jewish Museum exhibition, “Such is the power of this artist: he captures what death has forgotten to take.”
Mark Podwal is an acclaimed artist whose works have been exhibited and published worldwide. Most of Podwal’s books—his own as well as those he illustrated for others including such luminaries as Elie Wiesel, Harold Bloom, and Francine Prose—focus on Jewish subjects. His art is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Israel Museum, among many other venues. Author Cynthia Ozick has given Podwal the Hebrew name Baal Kav Emet, or “Master of the True Line.” In 1996 the French Ministry of Culture named Podwal an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters; in 2011 he received the Foundation for Jewish Culture Achievement Award; and in 2019 the Czech Foreign Ministry awarded Podwal the Gratias Agit Prize. Additional honors include the American Book Award and the National Jewish Book Award.
Supported by the generosity of the Radov and Kaye families.
While all IIJS events are free and open to the public, we do encourage a suggested donation of $10.