The Artdog Image of Interest
I couldn’t think of a better image or a better note of hope on which to end this month’s Images of Interest series of feminist artworks. Today’s piece, Rainbow Shabbat, 1992, by Judy Chicago, is a large, stained glass installation.
It is the culminating image of Chicago’s “Holocaust Project: From Darkness into Light,” created over a period of eight years, collaborating with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman.
As explained in Wiki Art, “To conclude the exhibition, Chicago wanted an image of hope, a vision for a future in which people are joined together across differences in age, gender, race, faith and culture to live in harmony with one another and the natural world.”
The work was inspired by a Shabbat dinner in the home of some friends in Israel, where she and Donald had gathered with a group of others. As she described it later:
“There were twelve people there: men and women from four different countries, of different ages, and mostly strangers. We all went around the table and told stories, and everyone listened for hours. For me the evening brought up not just feelings about my childhood but also the incredibly warm moments Donald and I had shared with Jews around the world. Being welcomed into Jewish homes during our travels gave us a profound sense of a global community and provided me with an idea for the last image of the project, an image of optimism and hope.”
On a personal note, I think it’s kind of fitting that this feature posts, as it usually does, on a Friday. Just before sundown tonight, it will be time to welcome another Shabbat. Gut Shabbos and Shabbat shalom to all!
IMAGE: Many thanks to Wiki Art for the Rainbow Shabbat image and much of the information used in this post.