Private View: Rafael Klein 'A Wanderer'

Please join us for the private view of our second exhibition. RSVP is required.

Rafael Klein — 'A Wanderer' 

Exhibition continues 21 May 2021

‘A Wanderer’ is the second exhibition of the shul and gallery space at 36 Upper Street in Angel. The establishment of 36 Upper Street is particularly significant, given that Islington has not had a synagogue in over 50 years. The establishment of a rotating gallery in the same space as the congregation is also of great significance. Alongside the debut of Rafael Klein’s new body of work, the gallery is currently exhibiting work by London-based Jewish artists David Hochhauser and Beverley-Jane Stewart.

Curated by Nicole Zisman

“In my family, nobody every talked about the old country. My grandmother left Poland at the turn of the 20th century. She never spoke about what happened to the family she left behind. I knew my father’s family came from Austria. But when I asked him he said, “I don’t know what city – they didn’t talk about that.”

This year, whilst living in lockdown, Klein began to research what might have become of these family members. He set himself the task of learning what it was like when Jews hid in forests, in attics, in holes in the ground. This exhibition centres on the result — A Wanderer, Klein’s new hand-printed, limited edition artists’ book. The 100 signed copies are printed on fine quality Somerset paper with pop-ups, and hand-bound in a hard cover. Klein presents this tactile work together with large scale interactive panels that open to reveal the Jews hiding — in the artist’s own words, “making us all complicit in their fates.” He will launch the work as live event (as he has done at the British Library and other venues) with a reading, a screening of his related short film, and an artists’ talk at 36 Upper Street.

Find out more: https://www.jewishislington.co.uk/art-gallery