Opening Friday, November 6, 2015 and remaining on view through March 27, 2016 at the Jewish Museum in New York City, “Unorthodox” is a large-scale group exhibition of over 200 works featuring 55 contemporary artists from around the world whose practices mix forms and genres without concern for artistic conventions.
“Unorthodox does not comment on Jewish religious orthodoxy or critique it, but takes its inspiration from the legacy of progressive Jewish thought, in particular the Jewish tradition of dialogue and debate,” said Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs Jens Hoffmann. “Unorthodox aims to break with a cultural and artistic uniformity that has developed over the last century among artists and museums, proposing a nonconformist engagement with art as a means to disrupt the status quo.”
Artists included in the exhibition are: Philip Smith (b. 1952, USA), Margit Anna (1913 – 1991, b. Hungary), Austė (b. 1950, USA), Clayton Bailey (b. 1939, USA), Brian Belott (b. 1973, USA), Meriem Bennani (b. 1988, Morocco), Adolfo Bernal (1954 – 2008, b. Colombia), Dineo Seshee Bopape (b. 1981, South Africa), Michael Buthe (1944 – 1994, b. Germany), Tony Cox (b. 1975, USA), Olga de Amaral (b. 1932, Colombia), Brian DeGraw (b. 1974, USA), Marie-Louise Ekman (b. 1944, Sweden), Brenda Fajardo (b. 1940, Philippines), Christina Forrer (b. 1978, Switzerland), Valeska Gert (1892 – 1978, b. Germany), Stephen Goodfellow (b. 1953, United Kingdom), Zachary Harris (b. 1976, USA), Margaret Harrison (b. 1940, UK), Tommy Hartung (b. 1978, USA), Nadira Husain (b. 1980, France). Jamian Juliano-Villani (b. 1987, USA), Cyrus Kabiru (b. 1984, Kenya), E’wao Kagoshima (b. 1945, Japan), Gülsün Karamustafa (b. 1946, Turkey), Keiichi Tanaami (b. 1936, Japan), Július Koller (1939 – 2007, b. Slovakia), Jiri Kovanda (b. 1953, Czech Republic), Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato (1900 – 1995, b. Brazil), Boris Lurie (1924 – 2008, b. Russia), Alice Mackler (b. 1931, USA), Abu Bakarr Mansaray (b. 1970, Sierra Leone), and f.marquespenteado (b. 1955, Brazil).
Continuing are: Masatoshi Naito (b. 1938, Japan), Park McArthur (b. 1984, USA), Birgit Megerle (b. 1975, Germany), Jeffry Mitchell (b. 1958, USA), Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949 – 2015, b. India), Hylton Nel (b. 1941, Zambia), Zoë Paul (b. 1987, England), Nick Payne (b. 1982, USA), Christina Ramberg (1946 – 1995, b. USA), Bunny Rogers (b. 1990, USA), David Rosenak (b. 1957, USA), Erna Rosenstein (1913 – 2004, b. in today’s Ukraine), Xanti Schawinsky (1904 – 1979, b. Switzerland), Max Schumann (b. 1965, USA), Leang Seckon (b. 1970, Cambodia), Diane Simpson (b. 1935, USA), Hajime Sorayama (b. 1947, Japan), Jeni Spota (b. 1982, USA), Miroslav Tichy (1926 – 2011, Czech Republic), Amikam Toren (b. 1945, Israel), Endre Tót (b. 1937, Hungary); and William T. Vollmann (b. 1959, USA).
Though the artists in Unorthodox come from a wide variety of backgrounds and generations, they are united in their spirit of independence and individuality. Numerous works in this exhibit examines social and political values, trauma, religion and identity, whereas many artists use pop culture, animation and cartoons to address serious issues around violence, racism and sexuality.
For all the programming related to “Unorthodox” see: www.thejewishmuseum.org.