A Message from the Executive Director

Spring/Summer 2012

We are living in tumultuous times with every aspect of our daily lives impacted by climatic, economic, political and societal shifts. What role do art museums have to play regarding any of these issues? They have a vital and valuable role in presenting art that addresses varied and manifold issues. It is through the museums’ exhibition choices that visitors can gain perspective about significant issues of the past and present, and through the choices of works of art shared with the public, museums address the issues of our times in thought-provoking, engaging, enlightening and impactful ways.

From April 2 to September 9, 2012 the Museum features Opportunity and Impact: Works by Émigré Artists in the David Filderman Gallery. Fleeing political oppression, economic hardship, or seeking religious freedom emigrants have defined the history of the United States. Artists from other nations have had, and continue to have, a profound impact on all aspects of American cultural life. In this exhibition the Museum looks at some examples of the artistic contributions that have helped define 20th and 21st century artistic perspectives by artists from Cuba, Europe, Latin America and South America.

One of the premiere exhibitions of the spring and summer in the Museum’s Emily Lowe Gallery is Yonia Fain: Remembrance, April 19 to August 3, 2012. Yonia Fain, an emeritus faculty member of Hofstra‘s department of fine arts, taught here from 1971 to 1985. In a life that has spanned most of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, Yonia Fain has first-hand experience of our volatile world from experiencing the pogroms of his earliest days in Russia, to fleeing from the Nazis in Poland, to living in the Shanghai Ghetto for Jews during World War II, he is a true witness to history. After World War II, Yonia Fain turned these experiences into transformative works of art during his 7 years of work with the artist Diego Rivera in Mexico (where Yonia’s own murals can still be found in Mexico City), and then through his friendship with the artist Rufino Tamayo, he brought his artistic excellence to New York participating in numerous successful exhibitions at the Whitney and other major museums. His work has been featured in national and international galleries and museums, and in Yonia Fain: Remembrance we explore the life and work of this remarkable artist. In addition to his artwork, Yonia Fain is an award-winning Yiddish poet and author of several books of poetry including A Gallow Under the Stars and The Fifth Season. In addition to serving for some years as the President of the Yiddish Pen Society, he has been recognized by the State of Israel for his contributions to poetry. Still painting on a daily basis, and turning 99 on June 6th, of 98 this Holocaust survivor whose brilliant and impactful canvases, works on paper, and award-winning poetry pay constant tribute to the turbulence and death associated with the Holocaust, simultaneously offers us a hopeful voice, and an artist’s insight into the power of survival. Yonia Fain is “a painter of history” and his powerful message is for us to “remember, remember, remember….”

Beth E. Levinthal, Executive Director