Seeking the White Dove

For the first time, the artist, Motke Blum, exposes his experiences during the Holocaust depth, in a series of hundreds of paintings, mostly in black and black-and-white, depicting the symbols of evil, fear and horror experienced by groups of haunted people, who lost their identity and personality overnight. Possibly, Motke is trying to speak their voice. These harsh experiences are expressed in his paintings of boat skeletons and shipwrecks, barbed wire and faces filled with sorrow, which lead the observer through the stories. Throughout the years the artist swayed between light and darkness: from his innocent experiences as a child to a frustrating, harsh adolescence; between tragedies and hopes; black and gray; between subtle sketches and dark rough surfaces.

About the exhibition

Several years ago Motke Blum’s grandchildren asked him to tell them about his experiences during the Holocaust. For the first time, the artist exposed his story in depth, not only in words. The result was a series of hundreds of paintings, mostly in black and black-and-white, depicting the symbols of evil, fear and horror experienced by groups of haunted people, who lost their identity and personality overnight. Possibly, Motke is trying to speak their voice. In 1944 he escaped from a labor camp. These harsh experiences are expressed in his paintings of boat skeletons and shipwrecks, barbed wire and faces filled with sorrow, which lead the observer through the stories. Throughout the years the artist swayed between light and darkness: from his innocent experiences as a child to a frustrating, harsh adolescence; between tragedies and hopes; black and gray; between subtle sketches and dark rough surfaces.
Forever Motke will continue to search, wander and explore. Dreams and reality are often bound together in his work and above it all, hovers the white dove, a symbol of continuity and hope.