Rosen Exhibition of Holocaust Photo Collages Takes Viewers on a “Journey Into Darkness”

CLINTON, N.J. - March 19, 2013 - PRLog -- CLINTON, NJ (March 19, 2013) – If there’s one thing Carol Rosen knows for certain it’s this:  if her artwork doesn’t disturb people, deeply, she hasn’t done her job.

Rosen takes photographic images of the Holocaust – images that seem so familiar -- and creates photo collages that are fresh, tough and challenging.

Hunterdon Art Museum's latest exhibition, “Carol Rosen: Journey Into Darkness,” runs until Sunday, May 12, with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m., and guided tours are available for adults and children in grades 7 and up. To arrange a tour, call the Museum at 908-735-8415.

“We have all seen photographs of concentration camp survivors, emaciated skeletons bleakly staring at their rescuers, too deprived of humanity to realize that they -- the lucky ones -- are about to be freed,” said Hildreth York, curator of the exhibition.

“Photographs become visual icons and through repetition and the passage of time may lose their ability to capture our emotions. The unexpected juxtaposition of collaged images in Rosen’s compositions reveals the creative manipulation of subject matter . . . The intention is not to illustrate a narrative or to please us, but to force us to see, feel and reflect,” York said.

These images remind us that art can go beyond being pretty and pleasant; it can be upsetting and have a powerful effect on the viewer.

“I remember this one time we were going out to dinner with this couple. They came to our house, and the fellow wanted to see my studio. He was this big, beefy guy who looked like he could floor anybody. So he goes upstairs, and it must have been the shortest studio visit I’ve ever had: It lasted about 15 seconds. Later at dinner he said it was depressing, and I said if it wasn’t depressing, then I’ve failed,” Rosen said.

In addition to the photo collages, the exhibition features sculptures, triptychs, large digital images, two books from her “Holocaust Series,” and poems written by those impacted by the Holocaust.

Rosen’s own journey into the darkness of the Holocaust – when roughly six million men, women and children were slaughtered by a systematic, brutal Nazi regime -- began as a child. Her mother visited Germany just before the onset of World War II to help family members resettle to the United States. As the war raged, her mother worked for the U.S. government as a translator of German prisoner-of-war mail, which made her privy to information not disclosed to the public about the persecution of Jews in Europe.

“While she never spoke of this to me when I was a child, I became aware of some specific events she knew about and of the trauma she experienced as I grew up,” Rosen said.

A visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, and several concentration camps more than 16 years ago greatly impacted her artwork. She began taking pictures of an exhibition at the memorial of documentary photographs of the Holocaust, and it unleashed a creative response which later became a series of photo collages.

“When I got home from this particular trip I had a ton of prints and just started playing with them, and the images just seemed to want to come together,” Rosen said. She intended to make one or two collages; instead a series of 21 books evolved.

These aren’t the typical books you leaf through at your local library. They’ree 20 pages each. Each page feels almost like skin, and is translucent, a quality Rosen likes because “it takes the images to another place and makes it more mysterious.”

Over time, Rosen incorporated large-image digital prints and black granite tablets as mediums to translate her work. The content and context of the images have also changed over time, Rosen said.

“The images have become more intimate and focus on fewer forms,” Rosen said. “Also a desire to use a more hands-on approach led to experimentation with paint and brush adding a more expressive element. Individual prints may now include unretouched and painterly images side by side, juxtaposing the more realistic image with the more expressive.”

What motivates Rosen to work with these traumatic and painful images? “I have a need to do them,” she said. “In the process I’m trying to preserve our memory of the experience. Hopefully, we’ll learn something from it, though I’m not optimistic.”

Rosen’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Rutgers University, the New Jersey State Museum, Tel Aviv University and elsewhere. Her book series is represented in the collections of more than 30 major institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Yale University, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tel Aviv University, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Williams College Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC

The Museum is at 7 Lower Center St. in Clinton, New Jersey, 08809. Our website is www.hunterdonartmuseum.org and our telephone number is 908-735-8415. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm and suggested admission is $5.

ABOUT THE HUNTERDON ART MUSEUM

The Hunterdon Art Museum presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art, craft and design in a 19th century stone mill that is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Founded in 1952, the Museum is a landmark regional art center showcasing works by established and emerging contemporary artists. It also offers a dynamic schedule of art classes and workshops for children and adults.

Programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission, New Jersey Cultural Trust, The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey and corporations, foundations, and individuals.  The Hunterdon Art Museum is a wheelchair accessible space.  Publications are available in large print.  Patrons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired may contact the Museum through the New Jersey Relay Service at (TYY) 1 (800) 852-7899.