Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery

Past Exhibitions

Inside the Great Synagogue of Aleppo: Photographic selections from Jason Hamacher's forthcoming book, "Aleppo: The Essence of Syria"
December 26, 2007—February 18, 2008
In the spring of 2006, Jason Hamacher was given a rare opportunity to enter and photograph one of the world’s oldest synagogues, The Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria.  The Great Synagogue is best known for housing the Aleppo Codex which was once the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The synagogue’s foundation dates to King David and has been continually built upon since. “Inside the Great Synagogue of Aleppo” showcases select images from Hamacher’s forthcoming book, Aleppo: The Essence of Syria which aims to reveal Aleppo, Syria’s modern and ancient presence as seen through the eyes of its Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities.

Reconciling Worlds: The Work of Soviet Artist Yefim Ladyzhensky
September 6—December 30, 2007
Born in Odessa in 1911, Yefim Ladyzhensky was first a scenic designer for plays and films. Later, he created many series of compositions including his temperas inspired by Russian author Isaak Babel’s Red Cavalry; scenes from the Lyublin Cemetery in Moscow; and his naïve, and sometimes humorous, oil painting series entitled: “Growing Up in Odessa.” Once Ladyzhensky immigrated to Israel in 1978, he entered a serious depression and began meditating on his feelings of rootlessness. The art he produced from this time sadly foreshadowed his suicide only a few years after immigration. Through the exhibition of Ladyzhensky’s art, we were able to look though a window into Soviet censorship in the 20^th century and the artist’s own feelings of isolation after immigrating to Israel, not always with sorrow, but with a hint of humor and innocence.

The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Goodnight Book
June 21—August 12, 2007
Jewish educator Sarah Gershman and artist Kristina Swarner teamed up to create The Bedtime Sh’ma: A Good Night Book. Illustrations from this children’s book, which is based on the liturgy of the Bedtime Sh’ma, a collection of prayers and poems that focus on themes of preparing for sleep. The illustrations were exhibited for the first time at the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery.  

5+5: five artists choose five artists to watch
February 15—-May 13, 2007
To celebrate its 10th anniversary as well as the Washington DCJCC's ongoing commitment to Washington's artistic and cultural community the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery organized an exhibition of ten artists, 5 + 5.

The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden
September 7, 2006—January 7, 2007
"The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in The Garden," is a new illuminated manuscript by artist and scribe Debra Band. Band creates unique work in a genre rarely attempted. The biblical book, "Song of Songs," offers some of the most passionate and lasting love poetry in history. In her new visual interpretation, "The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in The Garden," Band simultaneously conveys both human and religious meanings. "The challenge of finding a way to reconcile the literal and allegorical readings of the poetry became something of an obsession," the artist states.

Through Their Eyes: Captured Moments of Childhood
Photographs by Godfrey Frankel and Helen Levitt
July 6—August 13, 2006
Documentary photography serves to give the viewer insight into the world of the image's subject. In the black and white works of the Jewish photographers Godfrey Frankel and Helen Levitt, the viewer glimpses private moments of childhood through the carefree nature of the subjects while their environments tell of financial struggle or social unrest.

Different Nights: Interpretations of the Seder by Contemporary Artists
March 17—June 18, 2006
"Different Nights" refers to a question asked in the Passover Seder: "Why is this night different from all other nights." Illustrations in the Haggadah, from the earliest version to the present, offer not only visualization of the Biblical story, but snapshots of their times-different nights. "Different Nights" pays tribute to the influence of the prominent mid-20th century artist Leonard Baskin (1922-2000) and the continuation of the tradition by Ruth Weisberg, Avner Moriah, Tamar Messer, David Moss, Ben Simon and Barry Ivker, whose work is featured in the exhibition.

Aliza Olmert: tikkun
September 18, 2005—January 30, 2006
Olmert's series deals with repair. She has signaled that in her title, tikkun, the only verbal clue we are given.  Olmert begins with broken eggshells she collects from her local Jerusalem bakery. She performs acts of painstaking repair with careful pinning and joinery of the remains of shells out of which she constructs new formal arrangements.

Jewish Costumes in the Ottoman Empire
March 10—May 6, 2005
Travel back in time. Visit the Jewish community in the 13th through the early 20th Centuries under Ottoman rule. Far-flung and disparate, Jewish life flourished in Ottoman lands.

Julz Rulz: Inside the Mind of Jules Feiffer
October 11, 2004—January 30, 2005
"JULZ RULZ: Inside the Mind of Jules Feiffer" featured cartoons, watercolors, original manuscripts, book illustrations, and prints. A Cafe display showcases posters from Feiffer's plays. On exhibition for the first time were drawings and the hand-written manuscript for Feiffer's new play, A Bad Friend, and the full-size color drawings for his new children's book, The Daddy Mountain.

Homelands: Baghdad-Jerusalem-New York
The Sculpture of Oded Halahmy
March 7—June 24, 2004
Oded Halahmy's s work bears the imprint of his three homelands. "His dynamic and engaging sculptures originate in modernist concerns while paying homage to the art of the ancient near east, and to his personal philosophy of peace and harmony," writes art critic Eleanor Heartley in her catalogue essay. "They exist between abstraction and representation, evoking figures, landscapes, and even at times, still lifes, without ever slipping out of the ideal world of symbol and sign. They are beautiful in a way that blends formal ideas about balance, gravity and proportion with references to ancient traditions that made the whole world a place of praise." and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC).

Archetype/Anonymous: Biblical Women in Contemporary Art
February—June 2003
Paintings, sculptures, mixed media pieces and works on paper that challenge traditional notions of both iconic and unnamed women represented in the Bible. Exhibition was loaned from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Ben Shahn: For All These Rights
September—December 2002
Paintings and prints by the artist, featuring photographs and other source material for the works. Guest curated by Fulbright Scholar Dr. Laura Katzman, with materials on loan from Maier Museum of Art, Harvard University, and Holocaust Museum, among others.

Portrait of a State
Spring 2002
Cosponsored by Embassy of Israel, this traveling exhibit featured work by thirteen artists from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and was adapted to fit the gallery. Photography, paintings, video, and interdisciplinary art was exhibited.

Narrative Works: The Art of Gerald Wartofsky
Winter 2002
This unique show curated by Liz Diament featured 39 works by this local artist. Paintings and prints were displayed.

Helene Aylon: My Bridal Chamber
Fall 2001
This critically-acclaimed and widely controversial installation on the topic of Jewish cleansing rituals was brought to DC to address the artist's conflicted feelings about Jewish tradition.

I Carry My Roots With Me: Touch points of the Latin American Jewish Diaspora
2000
This exhibition, featuring such media as poetry, photography, paintings, and collage, highlighted the uniqueness and the universality of the immigrant experience' as related to various Jewish communities throughout Latin America. An accompanying brochure was printed at the time of the exhibition.

Lillo Bartolon: An Artist's Homage to Isaac Bashevis Singer
1999
A show of paintings cosponsored by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura. Extensive related programming on topics of Yiddish language and literature accompanied this exhibition.

Banned Censored, and Suppressed
October 1997—February 1998
This exhibition is dedicated to those artists – courageous victims of the blacklist – whose relentless struggle for justice continues to inspire. Through film posters, lobby cards, stills and 1940s–1950s memorabilia, the exhibition recalls questions of patriotism and loyalty raised by the Hollywood Ten and others charged with subversive activity in order to find insightful lessons and critical warnings for our present and future. Banned, Censored & Suppressed was funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, Joanne Woodward Newman, The Newman’s Own Fund and Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, Inc.

Continuum: Memory in Motion
July—September 1997
A Washington-area artist exhibition juried by acclaimed artist Mindy Weisel. Artists in this show examine cycles, connections and memories- highlighting their many interpretations– as they relate to us as individuals and a community, linking generations past and future.

Urban Diaspora: Reclaiming Space
January—June, 1997
Through poignant photographs, artifacts, and text, Urban Diaspora: Reclaiming Space documents the rise, fall, and reclamation of thirteen historic Jewish spaces throughout the United States. This exhibition challenges visitors to think about their own identity, heritage, and the importance of preserving historic spaces as spiritual connectors to the past and future. Urban Diaspora: Reclaiming Space and its related programs were funded in part by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, a private, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.