Love Star of David

| Biography | | Yaacov Agam | Agam, Yaakov: (Israel b. 1928) The Artist: Yaakov Agam was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel 1928. The son of an orthodox rabbi, Agam's initial art training was at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem and the Atelier d'Art Abstrait in Paris. He studied under Bauhaus color-theoretician Johannes Itten and then rejected traditional static concepts of painting and sculpture. His art is a fusion of static and 'moving' elements. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost leaders in the field of kinetic art. Agam's work is heavily influenced by religious thought and mysticism which he learned from his father who was an orthodox rabbi and kabbalist. Studies in time, space, movement, and relationships between time and aesthetics result in art that is made up of complex combinations of shapes and colors; a kinship of art, technology, and visual illusions - visual fourth dimension, an abstraction of time. In examining Agam's art (painting, sculpture, prints, and montages of materials) a spectator must become involved with the aesthetic and change it. To complete the aesthetic experience the work must be altered either by manual transformation or by physically passing by it and viewing it at various angles. In both cases, the viewer engages in active participation of the art's creation, by visually rearranging the component elements of the artwork. Some of Agam's two dimensional art is linked with acoustic effects and moving light. And, some has extended to applications in literature, music, and theater. Physically and philosophically, Agam's non representational abstraction, two dimensional or otherwise, is an intellectual and aesthetic effort to integrate formalized art with ancient theories of mysticism i.e., the kabala. Agam's first one-person show was in Paris in 1953. In 1963, at the Biennial of Sao Paulo, he received the first prize for creative research. In 1980 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York held a retrospective exhibition of his achievements called "Beyond the Visible." Agam's Double Metamorphosis II , is on permanent display at the Modern Art Museum, in New York. More recent Agam works include the architectural work, "Jacob's Ladder", which forms the ceiling of the National Convention House in Jerusalem; a twenty-seven foot high mural for the passenger ship "Shalom"; and in the district of La Defense in Paris, Agam created a monumental musical fountain comprising of 66 vertical water jets shooting water up to 46'. For the Civic Center at Leverkusen, in West Germany and for the Concert Hall at Leverkusen in West Germany, Agam created visual space - environments that embrace and bring the viewer inside his art. Some other space environments include: Environmental Salon, for the Elysee Palace in Paris which is made up of wall murals, a kinetic ceiling, a moving transparent colored door, and a kinetic tapestry on the floor; Three Times Three Interplay at Julliard School of Music, New York; The Hundred Gates at the garden of presidential palace, Jerusalem; and Environmental Salon which is in permanent exhibition at the Pompidou Museum in Paris. Commissions for other public works include: Synagogue design and public works at Ben-Gurion University; The Independence Day State of Israel commemorative postage stamp; Homage a Mondrian Le Mondrian Hotel, Los Angeles California; Reflection and Depth, Port Authority of New York; Light and moving sculpture for Miami Florida sky scrapers; and a giant sculpture at the Lincoln Center in New York. Agam awards and world prize recognitions include: Artistic Research, Sao Paulo, Biennial, Brazil; Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy, Tel Aviv University; and the Medal of the Council of Europe. Agam's work in permanent private and public collections is exhibited in major museums throughout the world. Selected serigraph suites such at the one displayed below have most recently been exhibited at the Jewish Museum, New York. The Art: The son of an orthodox rabbi, Agam's life and creative body of art reflects deep rooted understanding and expressions of religious thinking. Agam strives to demonstrate the principle of reality as a continuous "becoming" rather than as a circumscribed statement. The Judaic teaching that reality cannot be represented in a graven image, and that what is seen or observed consists of fragmented images which can never be grasped as a whole, even in very simple situations, led to the pursuit of creating art that cannot be completely seen at one time. Such an art image is intended to give the viewer the understanding that what is seen is only a partial revelation behind which lies unseen levels of reality. A good example is The Love Star of David. Agam is one of the pioneer creators of the kinetic movement in art as well as its most outstanding contemporary representative. Born in 1928, son of an orthodox Rabbi of Rishon Letzion (Israel), Yaacov Agam studied at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem. His teacher was Mordecai Ardon, a former student at the Bauhaus in Weimar. On 1949, Ardon advises Agam to study in Zurich and commends him to Johannes Itten. In Zurich, he attends the classes of Itten at the Kunstgewerbeschule and of Siegfried Giedion at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. He also studies art history and musical composition at the University. Thanks to Itten and Max Bill, he assimilates the elementary repertory of the forms and colors of Constructivism, as well as the Universalist spirit of the Bauhaus. He is deeply impressed by Giedion's book, Space, Time and Architecture. Giedion advises him to continue his studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology. on 1951, Ardon came to Paris and remains there, even though he does not speak French, and lives in straitened circumstances. He eats at the Salvation Army and digs in trash cans for bits of wood and canvas for his plastic research. Eventually, he gets a job as an art teacher in the Jewish Agency's elementary teachers' training college. Meets Brancusi, Léger Herbin, Dewasne. In order to get a foreign-student residence permit, he enrolls at the Atelier d'Art Abstrait of Dewasne and Pillet at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière. Robert and Nina Lebel introduce him into the Surrealist circles, and he participates in Surrealist meetings. Agam deals with such problems as the 4th dimension, simultaneity and counterpoint in the visual, plastic arts, and he has extended his experiments to application in the fields of literature, music and art theory. He has developed theatrical projects where the spectators are encircled in a total environment of simultaneous and multiple scenes. In 1963, at the Biennial of Sao Paulo, he received the first prize for creative research. Agam's work breaks with the established way of expressing reality in limited and "determined statements." He strives to demonstrate the principle of reality as a continuous "becoming" rather than as a circumscribed statement. He has been deeply influenced by the Judaic concept that reality cannot be represented in a graven image, and that what is seen or observed consists of fragmented images which can never be grasped as a whole, even in very simple situations. This led Agam to pursue a course of research aimed at creating an image that could not be seen completely at any one time. Such an image gives the viewer the understanding that he is receiving a partial revelation behind which lie unseen levels of reality. Agam expressed these new conceptions in monumental architectural works such as his "Jacob's Ladder," which forms the ceiling at the National Convention House in Jerusalem. His "Double-Metamorphosis II" is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He created a twenty-seven foot high mural for the passenger ship "Shalom". His water fire fountain mixes water, sound and movement. For the Civic Center at Leverkusen in 1970, Agam created a visual space; an environment which embraces the viewer and makes him live within the painting. He no longer looks out of a framed, fixed and static scene, but rather moves within a space-work which changes constantly according to his shifting position and point of observation. In 1972, Agam created a whole Environmental Salon for the Elysee Palace in Paris, including walls, kinetic ceiling, moving transparent colored doors and a kinetic tapestry on the floor. The Environmental Salon is now on permanent exhibit at the Pompidou Museum in Paris. At the same time, an Agam mural was being completed at the President's Mansion in Jerusalem. In the new district of La Defense in Paris, he created a monumental musical fountain (1975) comprising 66 vertical water jets shooting water up to 14 meters (46'). Agam has delivered lectures about his theories and experimentations at many art schools, conventions and universities. In 1968 he was guest-lecturer at Harvard University, where he conducted a seminar on the theory of visual communication. In 1980, a major one-man retrospective exhibit, "Beyond the Visible," was held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 1983, Israel issued an Agam stamp, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel. | History | | The Love Star of David | Abstract Star of David The Shield of David or Magen David in Hebrew, Mahgayn Daveed [ma.'gayn da.'veed] in Modern Hebrew and Mogein Dovid ['mɔ.geɪn 'dɔ.vid] or Mogen Dovid ['mɔ.gen 'dɔ.vid] in Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish Community and Judaism. It is named after King David of ancient Israel; and its usage began in the Middle Ages, alongside the more ancient symbol of the menorah. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 the Star of David on the Flag of Israel has also become a symbol of Israel. Kabbalah Star of David In the Kabbalah, the two triangles represent the dichotomies inherent in man: good vs. evil, spiritual vs. physical, etc. The triangle pointing up symbolizes our good deeds, which go up to heaven and activate a flow of goodness back down to the world, symbolized by the triangle pointing down. The Star of David is sometimes known as the Creator's Star, in which each of the six points represents a day of the week and the center corresponds to the Sabbath. Anthropologists claim that the triangle pointing downward represents female sexuality, and the triangle pointing upward, male sexuality; thus, their combination symbolizes unity and harmony. In alchemy, the two triangles symbolize *"fire" and *"water"; together, they represent the reconciliation of opposites. The Love Star of David From The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols The evolution of the six-pointed Jewish star, the "Magen David," literally the "Shield of David." also known as the hexagram, or more rarely, *Solomon's Seal, is long and complex. Although it is now the most common and universally recognized sign of Judaism and Jewish identity, both within and outside of the Jewish community, it has only achieved this status in the last two hundred years. Before that it was chiefly associated with magic or with the insignia of individual families or communities. Yet despite its equivocal history, Jews have long been attracted to this design and have sought to ascribe to it venerable origins. In our own day, its universal Jewish popularity, especially as the symbol of the State of Israel, has made the question of its origins moot. Because of its geometric symmetry, the hexagram has been a popular symbol in many cultures from earliest times. Anthropologists claim that the triangle pointing downward represents female sexuality, and the triangle pointing upward, male sexuality; thus, their combination symbolizes unity and harmony. In alchemy, the two triangles symbolize *"fire" and *"water"; together, they represent the reconciliation of opposites. Some medieval alchemists even borrowed the talmudic pun - ish mayim, fiery water, and shamayim, heaven - to demonstrate the interpenetration of the two realms. 1 Because if this symbolism, the hexagram was even used occasionally as the emblem displayed above a brandy shop. The earliest known Jewish use of the hexagram was as a seal in ancient Israel (6th century B.C.E.) and then eight centuries later in a *synagogue frieze in Capernaum. But these early hexagrams may have been only ornamental designs; ironically, a swastika, another popular ancient motif, appears alongside the hexagram on the Capernaum synagogue wall. In the Middle Ages, hexagrams appear frequently on churches, but rarely in synagogues or on Jewish ritual objects. It was the *menorah that served as the primary Jewish symbol from antiquity until the post-Renaissance period, not the " Jewish star." Although scholars have attempted to trace the Star of David back to King David himself; to Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kokhba ("son of the star") rebellion (135 C.E.); or to *kabbalists, especially Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century), no Jewish literature or artifacts document this claim. Rather, all evidence suggests that the early use of the hexagram was limited to "practical Kabbalah," that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th century C.E. Legends connect this symbol with the "Seal of Solomon," the magical signet signet *ring used by King Solomon to control demons and spirits. 2 Although the original ring was inscribed with the Tetragrammaton, the sacred Four-Letter *Name of God, medieval *amulets imitating this ring substituted the hexagram or pentagram (five-pointed stare), often accompanied by rampant *lions, for the sacred Name. The star inscribed on these rings was usually called the "Seal of Solomon." In addition to such legends about Solomon's ring, medieval Jewish magical texts spoke of a magic shield possessed by King David which protected him from his enemies. According to these texts, the shield was inscribed with the seventy-two letter name of God, or with Shaddai (Almighty) or *angelic names, and was eventually passed down to *Judah Maccabee. The 15th-century kabbalist, Isaac Arama, claimed that Psalm 67, later known as the "Menorah Psalm" because of its *seven verses (plus an introductory verse), was engraved on David's shield in the form of a menorah. Another tradition suggests that Isaiah 11:2, enumerating the six aspects of the divine spirit, was inscribed on the shield in the outer six triangles of the hexagram. 3 In time, the hexagram replaced this menorah in popular legends about David's shield, while the five-pointed pentagram became identified with the Seal of Solomon. The hexagram was also widely regarded as a messianic symbol, because of its legendary connection with David, ancestor of the *Messiah. On Sabbath eve, German Jews would light a star-shaped brass *oil *lamp called a Judenstern (Jewish star), emblematic of the idea that Shabbat was a foretaste of the Messianic Age. The hexagram was also popular among the followers of Shabbatai Tzevi, the false messiah of the 17th century, because of its messianic associations. Among Jewish mystics and wonderworkers, the hexagram was most commonly used as a magical protection against demons, often inscribed on the outside of *mezuzot and on amulets. Another use of the hexagram in medieval times was as a Jewish printer's mark or heraldic emblem, especially in Prague and among members of the Jewish Foa family, who lived in Italy and Holland. In 1354, Emperor Charles IV of Prague granted the Jews of his city the privilege of displaying their own *flag on state occasions. Their flag displayed a large six-pointed star in its center. A similar flag remains to this day in the Altneuschul, the oldest synagogue in Prague. From Prague, the "Magen David" spread to the Jewish communities of Moravia and Bohemia, and then eventually to Eastern Europe. In 17th-century Vienna, the Jewish quarter was separated from the Christian quarter by a boundary stone inscribed with a hexagram on one side and a cross on the other, the first instance of the six-pointed star being used to represent Judaism as a whole, rather than an individual community. With Jewish emancipation following the French Revolution, Jews began to look for a symbol to represent themselves comparable to the cross used by their Christian neighbors. They settled upon the six-pointed star, principally because of its heraldic associations. Its geometric design and architectural features greatly appealed to synagogue architects, most of whom were non-Jews. Ironically, the religious Jews of Europe and the Orient, already accustomed to seeing hexagrams on kabbalistic amulets, accepted this secularized emblem of the enlightened Jews as a legitimate Jewish symbol, even though it had no religious content or scriptural basis. When Theodor Herzl looked for a symbol for the new Zionist movement, he chose the Star of David because it was so well known and also because it had no religious associations. In time, it appeared in the center of the flag of the new Jewish state of Israel and has become associated with national redemption. During the Holocaust, the Nazis chose the *yellow star as an identifying badge required on the garments of all Jews. After the war, Jews turned this symbol of humiliation and death into a badge of honor. Today, the Star of David is the most popular and universally recognized symbol of the Jewish People. In his seminal work entitled the Star of Redemption (1912), Franz Rosenzweig framed his philosophy of Judaism around the image of the Jewish star, composed of two conceptual "triads," which together form the basis of Jewish belief: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption; God, Israel, and World. On the popular level, Jews continue to use the Jewish star as it was used for centuries: as a magical amulet of good luck and as a secularized symbol of Jewish identity. References:1 Scholem, "The Star of David; History of a Symbol," in The Messianic Idea in Judaism, 271; 2 Gittin 68a; 3 Eder, the Star of David, 73 Signifies: CONTINUITY, GOOD LUCK, HONOR, JEWISH IDENTITY, JEWISH PEOPLE, JUDAISM, REDEMPTION, SURVIVAL, ZIONISM. Generic Categories: Israel (State of) Quoted for educational purposes from The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, by Ellen Frankel and Betsey Platkin Teutsch, p. 161; Jason Aronson Inc., 1992