Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated Exhibition

“Sometimes, an idea appears and the course of your life, and even your sense of purpose is altered. As a figurative narrative artist, I create stories in paint. In July 2018, as I pondered stories to tell, I became overwhelmed with the understanding of the millions who didn’t get to have a story; those whose dreams, hopes, and aspirations were horrifically eliminated in the Holocaust. I decided to concentrate on these unheard voices.”

~ LAUREN BERGMAN

• ARTIST STATMENT

“We are all possible victims, possible perpetrators, possible bystanders.” - Yehuda Bauer

Seeing racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and intolerance rise up in the world around us all, as I heard the voices of hate reverberating in the public square and watched bigotry rear its hideous head and march emboldened down our streets, I was reminded of a haunting warning from Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer: “The horror of the Holocaust is not that it deviated from human norms; the horror is that it didn’t. What happened may happen again, to others not necessarily Jews, perpetrated by others, not necessarily Germans.

We have all seen tragic images of victims of the Holocaust, images that never cease to shock and horrify. Although we may be haunted by the cruelty with which so many lives were destroyed, how much do we actually know about the people whose time on earth was cut so terribly short? Is it possible that by only seeing images of their suffering we are protected from grasping just how much these people are like us? I became captivated by the remaining images of girls and young women murdered by the Nazis. The eyes in these often-unnamed faces are windows into lives that were not allowed to unfold. I contemplated their interrupted childhoods and young adult years and wondered about the stories, dreams, wishes, and life chapters torn away from these young people and felt compelled to imagine what their inner lives might have been like before they became engulfed by horror.

In creating paintings based on historic snapshots, my goal is to honor these lost lives. I hope to give back to these girls and young women something that was stolen; to remind the world that these young people once lived and loved and that they, like us, harbored dreams and hopes and secrets; that they had stories to tell. One can never know the exact dreams destroyed or hopes crushed; one cannot hear the inner narratives silenced or know how these girls might have lived out their precious lives, but in imagining what might have been, perhaps, in a small way, they can be brought back to life. Ultimately, these paintings aim to shine our light into the dark shadows of history, reminding us all that every taken life was far more than a statistic or a discarded photo. Depicting idyllic images of girls who were senselessly slaughtered is my act of creative resistance.

Through these pieces, I am saying that we cannot ever forget the real girls who suffered nor can we stand by and allow history to repeat itself.

Lauren Bergman | New York City | 1/20/19

Lauren creating Judith Gersch’s painting

• DR. DAVID M. MILCH STATEMENT

Introduction to the Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated Exhibition

In July 2018, nearly a year after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, artist Lauren Bergman took the pulse of America's resurgent racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance, and conceptualized a series of narrative paintings based on historic snapshots.

Poring over images of young girls and young women murdered, Bergman envisioned breathing new life into the stories, secrets, and hops that may have moved them before horror intervened. Her idyllic scenes offer an alternative to the iconography of tragedy and suffering that often blocks us from resonation with the human faces we encounter. Set to the haunting music of world-renowned composer Ella Milch-Sheriff, this "act of creative resistance" powerfully imagines the stores of silenced voices.

This exhibition includes 6 out of 20 works from the Artist Lauren Bergman and the Composer Ella Milch-Sheriff.

LIVES ELIMINATED, DREAMS ILLUMINATED | VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

On Meeting Lauren Bergman

I first encountered the powerful works of artist Lauren Bergman on March 15th, 2019 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. I was not prepared for the impact that Lauren Bergman’s works would have on me.

I remember my first impression that these were well-executed colorful portraits with some interesting additional elements completing the compositions. I then noticed a small black-and-white photograph, attached to the display stand, of the girl seen on canvas, and remember thinking how accurately the artist had captured the face on the photo, and how excellent her craft was. It was only then that I read the associated photo caption…”Picture made in a studio before deportation to Terezin in November 1941.”

Subsequently, I met with Lauren Bergman many times. I have come to know of her essentially secular Jewish upbringing and appreciate even more fully the way her unique artistry imbues these paintings with an extraordinary power. I was able to introduce her to my cousin, the brilliant Israeli composer Ella Milch-Sheriff, and to my wonderfully creative colleague Ohad Ashkenazi. Together the idea of an exhibition of Lauren’s portraits emerged, 20 in the full collection and all accompanied by an original composition from Ella, curated and organized by Ohad, with the assistance of other ever-helpful individuals (Phyllis, Archie, Tal, Aviv, and more), and this vision is now being realized, with further exhibition plans to come.

Our family is honored to bring this powerful experience to the attention of all who care for life, for art, and for the shared humanity that links us all together.

Dr. David M. Milch | New York City | 6/23/2020

In 2010, Dr. Milch decided to establish a foundation that would serve “tikkun olam” (healing the world) in two major areas: the the use of arts for social impact (“Ars Veritas Initiative”); and youth mentorship to help fashion the leaders of tomorrow. As a seed philanthropist, Dr. Milch has helped initiate and shape strategies for a number of new artistic initiatives, including “Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated.”

Sunflowers and Butterflies

In the below historical photo, a woman is chased by men and youth armed with clubs – Medova Street, Lviv, 1941.

The Lviv pogroms were the consecutive massacres of Jews living in the city of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists from June 30 to July 2 and July 25 to July 29, 1941 during the Wehrmacht’s attack on Soviet-occupied eastern Poland in World War II.

On the morning of July 25, the Ukrainian auxiliary police began arresting Jews in their homes, while civilians participated in acts of violence against them in the streets. Captured Jews were dragged to the Jewish cemetery and the Łąckiego Street prison, where they were fatally shot out of the public eye. Some 2,000 people were murdered in approximately three days.

Historical photo of woman chased by men and children armed with clubs during 1941 Lviv pogrom

The historical photo used to inspire the Sunflowers and Butterflies painting.

ELLA MILCH-SHERIFF MUSICAL COMPOSITION FOR SUNFLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

Original music for this painting composed by Ella Milch-Sheriff for the Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated: A Remembrance of Future Stories Exhibition

Lives Eliminated, Dreams Illuminated Exhibition

~ LAUREN BERGMAN

Sunflowers and Butterflies

Edzia Littmann

Mirian Klein

Eva Schulzová

Marica Kecskemeti

Anna Zakrzewska

Rina Di Veroli

Esther Frederika Polak

Bronia Milch and Fela Leifer

Henriette Bamberg Cambridge

Emmy Stein

Ester Gordon

Eva Nemova

If Wishes Were Horses

Judith Gersch

Katalin Kellerman

Mirjam Anna Bosman

She Dreams of Flowers

Tema Schneiderman

Marcelle Bonderman

Anyuta Lifshitz

New Work Available

Flower Crown

Ruth Tobias

Ruth Zimmermannova

Inside My Studio