I didn’t realize until last night that our friend Mark had a mini-art exhibit on in Tallahassee (part of a larger exhibit that our friend and Mark's spouse Sarah and colleagues helped curate), and that was one reason why his Mother was in town. I managed to stop there today (Wednesday) at Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts, and take it in.
As I understood it from Mark’s blog and the lead curator of this exhibit (“The Story”), Mark’s grandparents and his mother and uncle lived in Central Europe in the 1930s, when his grandparents made several homemade books with folktales illustrated.
During World War II the whole family wound up in a concentration camp, where Mark’s grandparents died. Mark’s mother and her little brother managed to escape and, before they came to the United States after the war, his mother managed to go home and bring one suitcase full of stuff, including at least three of these books (titles translated into English): "The Dwarf and the Easter Bunny," "The Bee Maja and Her Adventure," and
Mark built a whole exhibit around these books and his Mom’s initial translation into English of them. He put each original book in ca ase, then created several small ceramics/sculpture pieces connected with the stories. Then it appears that he and wife Sara adapted his mother’s translation and created new illustrations and new versions of the books – which look published but for which they are still seeking publishers. A DVD offers pictures from the books and Mark’s mother reading the books.
Commentary – the curator’s? Mark’s – opines that all of the books offer tales of renewal, perhaps even out Nazism/the war/the Holocaust.
The books and illustrations and stories and related art work are very neat. Knowing more of the story adds much greater context.
Mark has long been a sculptor and ceramic artist, but has of late experimented with other art forms, including poetry. Next week he will be a guest artist at a park in the mountains of South Carolina, and then he and Sara head to a wedding in Ohio. Perhaps they’ll get to stop in Louisville on the way back or Stephanie will get to see them if she goes to Tallahassee. I’ll look forward to seeing more evidence of this inventive, multimedia work by Mark and to hearing more about his family.
As I understood it from Mark’s blog and the lead curator of this exhibit (“The Story”), Mark’s grandparents and his mother and uncle lived in Central Europe in the 1930s, when his grandparents made several homemade books with folktales illustrated.
During World War II the whole family wound up in a concentration camp, where Mark’s grandparents died. Mark’s mother and her little brother managed to escape and, before they came to the United States after the war, his mother managed to go home and bring one suitcase full of stuff, including at least three of these books (titles translated into English): "The Dwarf and the Easter Bunny," "The Bee Maja and Her Adventure," and
Mark built a whole exhibit around these books and his Mom’s initial translation into English of them. He put each original book in ca ase, then created several small ceramics/sculpture pieces connected with the stories. Then it appears that he and wife Sara adapted his mother’s translation and created new illustrations and new versions of the books – which look published but for which they are still seeking publishers. A DVD offers pictures from the books and Mark’s mother reading the books.
Commentary – the curator’s? Mark’s – opines that all of the books offer tales of renewal, perhaps even out Nazism/the war/the Holocaust.
The books and illustrations and stories and related art work are very neat. Knowing more of the story adds much greater context.
Mark has long been a sculptor and ceramic artist, but has of late experimented with other art forms, including poetry. Next week he will be a guest artist at a park in the mountains of South Carolina, and then he and Sara head to a wedding in Ohio. Perhaps they’ll get to stop in Louisville on the way back or Stephanie will get to see them if she goes to Tallahassee. I’ll look forward to seeing more evidence of this inventive, multimedia work by Mark and to hearing more about his family.
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