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Tom Freudenheim

Tom Freudenheim

When art imitates art

There’s a vast difference between history and historical fiction. I tend to prefer the latter, finding myself in awe of writers who can carry readers into a world that’s both factual and imagined. Obviously, there’s the underlying question of trust: How do we know when and whether we can trust an author who presents a mélange in which fact and fiction aren’t easily teased apart? We don’t.

LACMA plans pioneering post-war German art show

Discomfort with German art might seem like a problem that\’s particular to the Jewish community. It\’s another part of the \”I would never set foot in Germany\” statement that I often heard in response to my frequent German trips and my subsequent working in Berlin

Art: Goldfarb’s sleight of hand and eye at MOLAA

\”Walter Goldfarb: D+Lirium,\” on view at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach through May 18, should reassure viewers that our art-jaded world still provides the occasional joy of discovery. The mid-career view of this talented Brazilian artist is also his first solo exhibition in the U.S., and the work is much more interesting than the show\’s somewhat precious title suggests.

Schnabel dives into another mind with a visual poem

I don\’t recall anyone ever classifying Schnabel as a \”Jewish artist\” — even if his mother was a Hadassah president and his father an active member of B\’nai B\’rith. Unlike the parody of pushy Jewish parents aiming their son at medical school, Schnabel says that his parents encouraged him to do anything he wanted — which may explain a kind of restlessness as an artist that sometimes feels like a lack of focus, and an oeuvre of uneven quality and interest. But if the result is a work of art as accomplished as Schnabel\’s latest film, then such antsy-ness is laudable.

Abstract eye follows Dali in film at LACMA

Early in the last century, when film was a newer medium, many artists were intrigued by its kinetic visual possibilities, and for a fantasist like Dali, the opportunities must have seemed especially rich.

Making sense of today’s Jewish Germany

With the fastest-growing Jewish community in Europe, Germany is both a somewhat comfortable haven for recently arrived Jews from the former Soviet Union, and a rather settled home for those Jews (mostly former displaced persons) who ended up there shortly after the war.

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