What does it mean to make a ritual object? What does it mean to make a queer ritual object? How might personal experience mold the interpretation and use of ritual objects? Explore those questions with artist Nicki Green and scholar Merissa Nathan Gerson, introduced by Dr. Rachel Gross, the John & Marcia Goldman Professor of American Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. Presented in conjunction with community partner Keshet.
Recorded on Feb 1 2018.
Merissa Nathan Gerson is a freelance writer and educator. She was the intergenerational trauma consultant to Amazon's hit show, Transparent and has writing featured in The New York Times, Playboy magazine, The Atlantic, Tablet, Lilith, and many others. She teaches about sex and religion and the inheritance of trauma and memory nationwide.
Nicki Green is a transdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco whose work focuses on craft processes and explores topics of historic preservation, ornamentation and queer and Jewish community dynamics. Originally from New England, she received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009 and is a current MFA Candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. She has exhibited her work nationally, notably at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York, and Smack Mellon in Brooklyn, New York. She is represented by [ 2nd floor projects ] San Francisco.
Rachel B. Gross is the John and Marcia Goldman Professor of American Jewish Studies in the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. She is currently working on a book that examines the religious nature of contemporary nostalgic representations of American Jewish immigration history. She received her Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University in 2014.
Leadership Support for digital media at The Contemporary Jewish Museum is generously provided by the Jim Joseph Foundation.
Sabbath: The 2017 Dorothy Saxe Invitational is organized by The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco. An endowed sponsorship for this exhibition was created by George Saxe, z”l, in honor of Dorothy R. Saxe. Major support has been provided by Phyllis Cook and Wendy Kesser. Supporting Sponsorship is provided by Robert and Judy Aptekar.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum thanks The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for its lead sponsorship of The Museum’s exhibition program.
Video by Laurie Lezin-Schmidt. Merissa Nathan Gerson photo by Roman Cho. Nicki Green photo by artist. Rachel B. Gross photo by Andrew Corpuz.