Robert Kirschbaum’s The 42-Letter Name
December 12, 2014–April 26, 2015
Lockhart Gallery
Fusing Judaic concepts of sacred space with forms derived from traditional South Asian religious art, Robert Kirschbaum’s The 42-Letter Name is a meditation upon divinity, creation and faith. Each page of the folio references a letter of one of the secret names of God. Kirschbaum’s invented language of mystical symbols evokes Hebrew letters, the sacred space of the Temple and Jewish ritual objects.
Robert Kirschbaum
Letterpress and relief print. Gift of the artist, 2013.80.7 © Robert Kirschbaum
The artist has said “many layers of memory are invested in this work,” including preparations for his bar mitzvah, an industrial arts class in high school, and a 1966 visit to MAG as an undergraduate which sparked his life-long love affair with Indian art.
About the Artist
Robert Kirschbaum is professor of fine arts at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. He earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Rochester and the Boston Museum School and an MFA from Yale University. The recipient of numerous grants and awards, including three Fulbright awards and an Artist’s Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, he has exhibited and lectured throughout the United States and abroad. His artwork is in such permanent collections as the New Britain Museum of American Art, William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut, Yale University Art Gallery, the US State Department, and the Pennell Print Collection of the Library of Congress.
