Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection at Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce it has reopened to the public following a two-year hiatus from in-person exhibitions during the Covid-19 pandemic. An exhibition of works from the collection, Aviary Aesthetic: The Symbolism of Birds, will be on view from March 8–May 8, 2022. The Museum is open to the public Sunday-Thursday, from 10:30 am-4:30 pm.
With more than thirty artists and works in diverse media, Aviary Aesthetic explores the fascination birds have long held for artists and designers across different cultures and in different eras, ranging from late nineteenth-century France to the late twentieth-century United States. Selected from the permanent collection, the works on view reflect a variety of stylistic influences, from realism to surrealism, folk art to scientific illustration.
The artists and makers in the exhibition come from diverse cultural backgrounds. They include Native artists in North America, who incorporate birds as symbols of tribal identity and manifestations of the spirit world, as well as contemporary artists, whose depictions convey mood or draw attention to environmental issues. The exhibition also includes Jewish ritual objects ornamented with cast, hand-drawn and embroidered birds.
