Men of Steel and Women of Valor

This fall I opened a new exhibition at The Temple Museum of Jewish Art, Religion, and Culture in Cleveland called "Men of Steel and Women of Valor," and I've been keeping you posted here (and on Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram) but as the exhibition comes to a close it seemed appropriate to put everything up in one place – right here on my blog. (You can also read about it in The Forward or the Cleveland Jewish News.)

Standing in the gallery – in my Superboy shirt, of course.

At the heart of the exhibition is a series of large portraits made of cut-up comic books featuring Superman and Lois Lane, Daredevil and Elektra, the Fantastic Four — transformed into the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, as well as modern figures. These portraits are a nod to the Jewish custom of inviting guests into one’s sukkah during the fall festival of Sukkot, since we opened the exhibition just before Sukkot. In fact, Rabbi Shawna and I went to The Temple-Tifereth Israel for a Paper Midrash weekend to coincide with the exhibition, praying and teaching and creating all weekend with the community.

Rabbi Shawna and I led a bunch of papercutting workshops during our Paper Midrash weekend

We led a number of projects to create new art for the walls of the TTTI sukkah

Teaching in "the birthplace of Superman"

The exhibition focused heavily on Superman, created in Cleveland in the 1930s by two Jews, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — portraits of whom are included in the show, made of cut-up Superman comics from the past 90 years. You can see the whole show online in this PDF catalog, or check out the pix below.

"Abraham: Ignition" is made with cut-up Fantastic Four comics featuring patriarch Reed Richards

"Sarah: Forward" is made with cut-up Fantastic Four comics featuring matriarch Sue Storm Richards

"Isaac: Hurt" is made of comics featuring blind vigilant super hero Daredevil

"Rebekah: Someone" is made of comics featuring ninja badass Elektra

"Jacob:Disguise" is made of Clark Kent comics (and a little bit of Loki)

"Leah: Suppress" is made of comics featuring Lois Lane (and so is her sister)

"Rachel: Answers" is made of comics featuring Lois Lane (and so is her sister)

It also included portraits of Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, and Sally Priesand, America’s first female rabbi. The portraits share the walls with landscapes of Jerusalem, stories of fire and water and cloud, and explorations of the Mishnah — all made out of cut-up comic books.

“Siegel: Chutzpah” is a portrait of Jerry Siegel, the writer who co-created Superman. Siegel is represented with cut-up comics featuring some of my favorite Superman writers from the past 90 years.

“Shuster: Action” is a portrait of Joe Shuster, the artist who co-created Superman, Shuster is represented with cut-up comics featuring some of my favorite Superman artists from the past 90 years.

“Priesand: My Turn” is a portrait of the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the United States, Sally Priesand.

“Meir: Fight” is a portrait of Golda Meir, the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Israel.

You can see the whole show online in this PDF catalog. For more information on our residencies and workshops, visit PaperMidrash.com.

Heroes & Villains: Exploring Archetypes Through Art

I'm pleased to announce that three of my papercuts have been accepted into an upcoming show called "Heroes & Villains: Exploring Archetypes Through Art" at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, a museum in Maryland affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. I'm packing up "The Thicket," Jacob and Esav," and "Masters of Mysticism" for a little cross-country trip!

Left to right: The Thicket, Jacob and Esav, Masters of Mysticism

The opening reception will be Friday, June 19, from 6 to 9 pm, and the show is open through August 23.

For more information about the show, you can visit the website here.

Super Heroes, Holy Land: Thickets

Above on the left is my new papercut about the binding of Isaac, called "The Thicket." On the right is a piece by Avner Moriah on the same subject. Both are at the UCLA Hillel building right now – and you can see them and much more on Thursday, January 16.

My new show is called "Super Heroes, Holy Land" and is inspired by my family trip to Israel this past summer. It's all new work, and it's all stunning – and some of the largest work I've yet made.

The opening night reception is Thursday, January 16, from 7 to 9 pm, and it's free to the public. Plus, it's also the opening night for Avner Moriah and Rhea Carmi, who have work in other locations in the Hillel building.

Please join me at the Dortort Gallery at UCLA Hillel in Los Angeles: 574 Hilgard Avenue; LA, CA 90024. Parking is available across the street at on-campus meters; call 310-208-3081 for more information. The show is open through March 14.