“Jewish Metaphysics as Generative Principle in Contemporary Art,” curated by Smadar Sheffi and Daniel Rothbart, examines how Jewish philosophical and mystical traditions continue to inform contemporary artistic practice. In a time marked by political fragmentation, ethical uncertainty, and shifting identities, the exhibition presents Jewish metaphysics as a framework for engaging complex global concerns. Drawing on Kabbalistic ideas—absence and presence, concealment and revelation, fragmentation and repair—it highlights their resonance with contemporary art’s focus on abstraction, memory, and critical inquiry.
At its core is Tikkun Olam, the concept of repairing a fractured world through ethical action and responsibility. Here, it serves as a metaphor for artistic creation: an act of assembling and reimagining meaning מתוך rupture. Art becomes not just representational but generative, participating in healing and transformation.
Expanding on Rothbart’s earlier scholarship on Jewish thought in American art, the exhibition takes a global perspective, featuring artists whose works engage these ideas in varied ways. Through diverse media, they explore displacement, ritual, language, and justice, reflecting the evolving nature of Jewish identity.
Bringing together established and emerging voices, the exhibition reveals Jewish metaphysics as a living system—one that enables art to confront the ethical and existential challenges of the present.