Art Review: Hyman Bloom’s Rabbi Paintings at White Box Gallery

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ken Johnson

The third in a series of rabbis with Torahs by Hyman Bloom,
in oil and black crayon from the 1980s-1990s, at White Box.

NEW YORK---The contemporary art world is a forgetful place. Many continue to make interesting art and enjoy lives of quiet fulfillment. Hyman Bloom (1913-2009) was one of those, and an exhibition of paintings of rabbis that he made late in life, at White Box gallery in Lower Manhattan, offers surprisingly much to ponder. Traditional Jewish themes preoccupied Bloom from first to last. But viewed in a certain way, Bloom’s paintings are not as irrelevant to contemporary art discourse as they may seem. What’s at issue in this story, and what makes it relevant to today’s art world, is the overvaluation of the material object, to the detriment of art’s spiritual mission. Observers have seen Bloom’s rabbi as a self-portrait, but it would be more accurate to view that figure as the artist’s alter ego, his spiritual frère. [link]

“Hyman Bloom Paintings 1940-2005” continues through Sept. 23 at White Box, 329 Broome Street, Lower Manhattan; (212) 714-2347, whiteboxny.org.