Yizkor / In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried 2007
Oil on Canvas 50" h x 60" w
This double painting considers two very different aspects of the Jewish view of
death – mourning and afterlife celebration. of life.
Yizkor is based upon the artist’s participation in a funeral at a cemetery in Long
Island, New York. Behind where the graveside service was taking place, stood a
memorial to Hungarian Holocaust victims. In the distant was a large brick power
plant chimney, reminiscent of those in pictures of concentration camps. The
painting links past and present dangers to Jewish existence.
In The Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried borrows it’s title from a short story by
the American writer Amy Hempel. The artist’s grandfather (last name Singer) was
a WW1-era British music hall performer. In later life, he emigrated to the United
States, died in Los Angeles and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park, close to
where Al Jolson is interred. The painting reminds us that in Judaism, death is
not a tragedy, and our deaths, like our lives, continue to have meaning. Jewish
tradition recognizes the democracy of death, and in this work, the famous Jazz
singer and the artist’s grandfather perform as equals
Oil on Canvas 50" h x 60" w
This double painting considers two very different aspects of the Jewish view of
death – mourning and afterlife celebration. of life.
Yizkor is based upon the artist’s participation in a funeral at a cemetery in Long
Island, New York. Behind where the graveside service was taking place, stood a
memorial to Hungarian Holocaust victims. In the distant was a large brick power
plant chimney, reminiscent of those in pictures of concentration camps. The
painting links past and present dangers to Jewish existence.
In The Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried borrows it’s title from a short story by
the American writer Amy Hempel. The artist’s grandfather (last name Singer) was
a WW1-era British music hall performer. In later life, he emigrated to the United
States, died in Los Angeles and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park, close to
where Al Jolson is interred. The painting reminds us that in Judaism, death is
not a tragedy, and our deaths, like our lives, continue to have meaning. Jewish
tradition recognizes the democracy of death, and in this work, the famous Jazz
singer and the artist’s grandfather perform as equals
