Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 10, 2022

With Philadelphias numerous organizations dedicated to championing the arts, one neednt look far to find an exhibit worth taking in. For patrons of the arts interested in art with a historic influence, look no further than InLiquids latest exhibit, What Are We Claiming. Its billed as an immersive experience utilizing physical archived artifacts as well as meta-physical archived memories to depict the ancestry of two very different lineages. The exhibit was created by Rod Jones II, a proud descendant of enslaved African-Americans and Cheryl Harper, the descendant of Jewish refugees fleeing WWII in Eastern Europe with shocking ties to slavery. Their connected exhibit takes a look at legacy, both known and yet to be discovered, and its showing at the InLiquid Gallery now through June 11.

This immersive exhibit uses an unbiased, and historical lens to divulge the truths of family history. While Jones and Harpers art styles differ completely, they each share complicated pasts that inform their work.

My mother was a first-generation immigrant, but she came with a lot of baggage. They were Holocaust victims that were left in Germany. So this was really a trauma that was handed down personally to me from my mother, Harper says.

Finding her calling in art school, her interest in the Holocaust and the lives of those living through it would go on to influence the majority of her work, Ive been working with the Holocaust as a theme since graduate school, but it didnt become really personal until this project. So I feel somewhat oppressed, through having this background. But then my husbands family, we found out had enslaved for over 150 years. And I thought this is just so ironic. Its such an American story that people wouldnt know that they had this in their family, Harper says.

Her work with historical artifacts examines both that of an oppressor and oppressed. Only part of the larger project, Jones work offers a counter perspective: instead of being keenly aware of your ancestry, what would happen if you had to envision both horror and beauty for yourself.

When I was presented with the opportunity to work with Cheryl, I was like, Oh, this is a perfect opportunity to parse out my feelings about the archive. Having these items that can be traced back to historically specific moments and to certain regions, and its very place-specific, I dont have that relationship with familial heirlooms or things that have been passed down. I cant identify specific spaces or times or moments in history. Not in this in this categorical way. I dont have tangible things that we can go back and grab. But the archive that I pull from is intangible. Its stories. Its songs. Its mythologies that I have within myself and I hear from my friends. Its material that I choose to work with within my practice, be it beads, paper, wire, or braiding hair, Jones says.

Using non-linear forms of archival artifacts, Jones re-imagines his history through lore created through Black communal and personal experiences. That was the thing that I was excited about. Us approaching the archive from completely different ends of the spectrum. I was curious about the dialogue that could happen with our work being in the same space.

This though-provoking exhibit hope to generate conversation about our individual past as well as how it all comes together throughout history. InLiquids founder Rachel Zimmeran delights in getting to bring rich stories and work to their gallery, hoping to refresh audiences pallets with exciting and unique work.

When you make that connection, whether its in the gallery space between two artists, and a show comes together beautifully, theres something incredibly fulfilling about that. Its really about that connectedness, creating meaning and fulfilling something. It is very gratifying when you curate a space, and it just works, she said.

For more information on What Are We Claiming or InLiquid, visit inliquid.org

Excerpt from:

'What Are We Claiming' compares the Jewish and Black experiences - The Philadelphia Tribune

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