The Exhibit
The Skirball Museum is currently hosting an exhibit by Jewish artist Archie Rand, now through July 31. Titled “The Seventeen: Iron Flock,” it includes 17 paintings of empowered women from the Torah. Some are well-known, like Sarah and Eve, while others are minor characters whose stories were often expanded upon in Midrash and apocryphal works, such as Asenath and Rahab.
The Paintings
The paintings were created for the 2024 Jerusalem Biennale, where Rand was the only American artist included, and have since traveled to New York and now Cincinnati.
The colors are the first thing to draw in the viewer’s eye, are they are deep and saturated, at times lush and at other times garish. Rand employs a bright, practically day-glo orange or yellow that halos some of the figures, making them look iconic. What this glow means may be best decided by the audience. In the catalog for the show, curator Samantha Baskind writes they suggest Rembrandt’s lighting effects, but I think it could also refer to the more mystical Jewish tradition of light. The color palette is also reminiscent of Post-Impressionist works, indicating Rand’s knowledge of art history and his desire to place these contemporary works within that timeline.
Like the Torah itself which holds to its ancient foundation while its interpretations are ever evolving and modern, Rand has created works of ancient people and placed them in more contemporary scenes borrowed from mid-century American and Italian films, pulp magazines, and children’s picture books and other sources. In “Rahab Invites Two Spies,“ Rahab is dressed in a uniform, confronting two Nazi soldiers. In “Yael and Sisera,“ the two figures lean towards one another in a Victorian bedroom, with a giant hammer on the bed indicating the fate of the Canaanite general Sisera.
The outsized hammer is an example of another method Rand employs, which is to create a figure or inanimate object in the painting much larger than normal. Larger than life heads show up in more than one work, as do objects like the hammer or a bottle of gin. This creates a funhouse-like effect meant to emphasize the importance of the person or object. This is used best in Judith and Holofernes as a giant figure of Judith towers over a too-small Holofernes.
There are also direct references to the ancient aspect of these stories, such as a view out the window of the Pyramids of Giza in Asenath Flees, or the seal, staff, and cord in Tamar and Judah. Other elements seem to hold symbolic meaning but are obscure. For example, Tamar holds up a bright orange flower as if she is showing it to the viewer; what meaning this flower has is something I am unable to figure out, but possibly another viewer would understand.
Humor certainly plays a role in some of the works. For example, in Eliezer Gets Rebecca, the scene takes place in the 1920s at a travelling circus. It brings up a movie like Bonnie and Clyde, and Eliezer is so excited to bring Rebecca to Isaac that he has crashed into a fence. In Eve Talks to Animals, Eve is transported to the 19th Century, where she is seated at a table, showing what appear to be Tarot cards to the kind of fanciful animals one would see in a classic children’s book.
To sum up, the paintings are full of imagery and color that not only entertain the viewer but also provide much to ponder. On a sober note, the wall text for “Dinah Abducted” indicates that this painting was displayed mere months after the attack on October 7, making it an incredibly painful link between the past and the present.
The Artist
Archie Rand was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1949. He graduated from the Pratt Institute and also studied at the storied Art Students League of New York. Throughout his varied and successful career, he has had 100 solo exhibitions and been included in over 200 group exhibitions. While Rand hasn’t focused entirely on Jewish themes in his art, he also has an enviable reputation as an abstractionist. He has still created major works of Jewish art, for synagogues as well as independent installations, among them his work “The 613,” a 1,700-foot composition comprised of 613 individual paintings of the mitzvot. Like The Seventeen: Iron Flock, the paintings are modern takes on ancient themes. The project took five years and can also be purchased in book form.
Rand has taught at numerous universities and received several major awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2002, he collaborated with director Ang Lee on the movie The Hulk, a seemingly perfect fit for an artist who draws inspiration from comics. He has also collaborated with numerous poets and musicians. When the writer Menachem Wecker asks in his article for Mosaic if Archie Rand is the Jewish Michelangelo, it seems the answer is a resounding yes when one takes in the breadth and depth of his career.
Visit the Exhibit
The Skirball Cincinnati is on the campus of HUC Cincinnati in Clifton. It offers free parking and free admission and is open Sundays 1pm to 4pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am to 3pm. Be sure to explore the other exhibits in the museum while you’re there.
Left to right: Yael and Sisera, 2022; Rahab Invites Two Spies, 2022; Eliezer Gets Rebecca, 2022
(courtesy HUC skirball)
