EARTH WILL OPEN HER MOUTH - ERNA ROSENSTEIN, AUBREY WILLIAMS

Discover the fascinating dialogue between the works of Aubrey Williams and Erna Rosenstein, which transports us to a world of abstraction and surrealism. This unique publication, accompanying an exhibition at the Museum of Art, serves as a starting point for reflections on art in which difficult history and diasporic identity find their expression. Immerse yourself in the afterimages of the Holocaust and colonialism that haunt our present and influence our perception of the world.

• Unique combination of two artistic paths: Aubrey Williams and Erna Rosenstein.
• Reflection on art in the context of difficult history and diasporic identity.
• Analysis of the afterimages of the Holocaust and colonialism in post-war art.
• Discussion on the ways in which abstraction conveys the trauma of violence.
• Reproductions of selected paintings and drawings presented at the exhibition.
• Invitation to reflect on categories from the history of post-war painting and studies on social memory.
• New perspective on the specifics of the works of both artists.

This publication is the result of a dialogue initiated at the Museum of Art, which combines the works of Aubrey Williams, a painter from Guyana with ties to Great Britain, and Erna Rosenstein, a Polish artist of Jewish origin born in Lviv. The coexistence of their works in the collection of the Museum of Art and the affinities found in the works of both artists serve as a starting point for reflections on art in which the work with difficult history and diasporic identity finds expression in abstract and surreal forms. This dialogue initiates a discussion on the afterimages of the Holocaust and colonialism in the 1950s and 1960s and today, as well as on how they haunt our present and influence it.

The confrontation of two unique artistic paths not only gives an opportunity to look at their specifics in a new light, but also to rethink categories from the history of post-war painting and studies on social memory. This meeting allows us to show the ways in which non-geometric abstraction conveyed the trauma of violence of two historical tragedies, the ways in which memories of them were created and the ways in which they were represented, asking questions about the relationships and possibilities of comparisons between them. The authors distinguish between the tragic experiences of Rosenstein – an eyewitness to the Holocaust – and the biography of Williams as a descendant of Afro-Caribbean ancestors. At the same time, they draw attention to life after violence.

The essay texts are accompanied by reproductions of selected paintings and drawings presented at the exhibition, as well as other works discussed in them. This publication is not only a collection of essays, but above all an invitation to a deep reflection on art, history and social memory. Let yourself be carried away into a world of abstraction and surrealism, which contains an extraordinary message.

Specification: Pages: 216, Format: 219x263 mm, Year of publication: 2022, Binding: paperback, Publisher: Museum of Art in Łódź.