They Called Me Mayer July

Mayer July at the Museum of Family History, an online museum

Steve Lasky has created a beautiful exhibition in his online Museum of Family History. Here is his blog entry: http://museumoffamilyhistory.blogspot.com/

The main exhibition is here:
 http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/kirshenblatt/kirshenblatt.htm

The holiday exhibition is here:
http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/ce/kirshenblatt/jholidays-kirshenblatt.htm

With warm thanks to Steve. This museum is a true labor of love and thing of beauty to behold.

Studio International review

Crazy Mayer's Storehouse of Memories

They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust
The Jewish Museum, New York City
10 May–1 October 2009

by CINDI Di MARZO

September 25, 2009

'The places I remember exist no more. They are only in my head, and if I die they will disappear with me. I paint these scenes as I remember them as a little boy looking through the window'.

According to Mayer Kirshenblatt, the Polish town that he knew by its Yiddish name, Apt (called Opatów in Polish), was like many other towns in Poland. After meeting with some of the idiosyncratic characters described in Kirshenblatt's paintings and his lively written accounts, visitors to an exhibit of the artist's work now displayed at the Jewish Museum in New York City will find it difficult to believe that such people existed anywhere else.² From flour porter Laybl Tule and the 'human fly' who scaled the corner of one of the largest buildings in town to the hunchback (and pregnant) bride standing under a wedding canopy and a prostitute displaying her wares in the marketplace, Mayer's portraits will become for all who see them iconic of Apt prior to World War II. In effect, as Kirshenblatt noted, Apt stands for all of small-town Poland at this time.

Hurry! Last chance to see They Called Me Mayer July at The Jewish Museum. Show closes October 1

Only one week remains to see the remarkable work of Mayer Kirshenblatt at The Jewish Museum. They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust is a moving tribute to Kirshenblatt’s boyhood town painted many years after he left it. More than 80 colorful paintings and drawings, rendered in exquisite detail, transport you to another time and place; one that’s full of wonder, humor, charm and history. The New York Times summed it up in a word—“extraordinary.”

They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust - closing Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Jewish Museum
Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, New York
www.thejewishmuseum.org

Review of Mayer July exhibition on Second Life!

Look no further than the nearest comfy couch or recliner for the future of Museums and Museum exhibitions.

I had the honor of attending a gallery opening at the Tachles Gallery in Second Life for the Mayer July (First Life name:  Mayer Kirshenblatt) exhibition.  I met up with others from across the world – some of the cities represented were Warsaw, New York City, San Francisco and Stockholm...

Each work in this wonderful exhibition is a combination of experience, personal recollection and even a lesson in history.  There were a number of times that an avatar in attendance said “wow, I had no idea…” and I feel so strongly that art like this has an important place in every group or culture.

The Second Life exhibition of Mayer’s work was actually a simultaneous presentation of the work.  People in New York City and Warsaw had the opportunity to attend the opening in First Life (affectionately known by many as Real Life).  The images have been shown already at the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkley, CA and in Mayer’s hometown in Apt.  They are currently able to be seen in First Life at The Jewish Museum, New York and in the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland.  Some of Mayer’s works will be soon traveling toAmsterdam for an exhibition there as well.

Read the whole review here:

http://westmuse.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/they-called-me-mayer-july%E2%80%99s-second-life/

With thanks to James Leventhal for turning out (J)avatars from around the world in First Life! We are meeting at the SL exhibition again tomorrow morning, Friday September 25, 10:30 am NYC time. Please join us.

Mayer July exhibit opened on Second Life at the Tachles Gallery and Aufbau Cafe

Have a look at Mayer's exhibition on Second Life. Many avatars and Javatars attended the opening, including a goldfish. 

 

Mayer July opens on Second Life, September 13, 11:00 SLT

 

Please join us for the opening of Mayer's exhibition on Second Life.

Sunday September 13, 11:00 SLT

Tachles Gallery in the Jewish neighborhood of Second Life.

I'll be teleporting from Warsaw. Looking forward to seeing you there!

With warm thanks to Javatar Julian Voloj, editor of 2L Magazine, for arranging the exhibition. Details on 2L Magazine, a blog on Virtual Judaism.

Trailer for Paint What You Can Remember

Lovely Video Preview for Slawomir Grunberg's film about Mayer.

Paint What You Can Remember, world premiere of film

Bravo Slawomir Grunberg and Katja Reszke on the success of Paint What You Can Remember. The world premiere just took place at the film festival at Kazimierz Dolny. People from Opatow came to the premier and the town wants to make Mayer an honorary citizen.

Here is a review from Gazeta Lublin, August 8, 2009
Mayera podróż w czasie, by Danuta Majka  

Pittsburg Jewish Chronicle reviews Mayer July

Artist captures memories of Polish village before the Shoah 

by Eric Lidji, Associate Editor 

The Jewish Chronicle, Pittsburg. June 23, 2009

In “Everything is Illuminated,” Jonathan Safran Foer says Jews have a sixth sense: memory.

“The Jew is pricked by a pin and remembers other pins,” Foer writes. “It is only by tracing the pinprick back to the other… that the Jew was able to know why it hurts.”

“They Called Me Mayer July,” showing at the Jewish Museum in New York through Oct. 1, is one such pinprick. Although the exhibit concerns the Polish village of Opatow, its images reflect the stories of any community where Jews pass one another on the street. 

Opatow, known in Yiddish as Apt, comes to life through the simple and playful paintings Mayer Kirshenblatt began making 20 years ago based on childhood memories of pre-war Poland. While the paintings are intrinsically Jewish and Polish, the pinprick of memory they provide is universal, and can easily be traced to a neighborhood like Squirrel Hill.

Mayer represents Opatow on Virtual Shtetl

The Virtual Shtetl Portal is devoted to the local history of Jews. Although at the moment of its launch the Portal is primarily a source of information, its future is based on the interaction of web surfers using Web 2.0 technology. The medium created will constitute a bridge between the history of Polish Jewish towns and the contemporary, multicultural world.

>http://www.sztetl.org.pl/?a=showCity&action=viewtable&cat_id=10&city_id=939&id=16616&lang=en_GB