Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett posted on FB this link to a Jewish folk art exhibit in Moscow. Eastern and orthodox, the images lie outside the art history tradition as established in the west. Is that why, if only in part, I’m finding them so strange? They belong to a different place and a different time. On the one hand, the images are incredibly beautiful, soulful with a lot of “face.” On the other hand, they ’re aged, brittle, and ornamental. It’s this duality between subjectivity and objecthood that conveys such aura to these ghost-like things. For more images, you can access the slideshow at the bottom of the exhibit’s website page.
