BrightestYoungThings: PlayDC: Andy Warhol, Good For The Jews? @ Theatre J

If you want a theatre with a community behind it, go experience Theatre J at the Washington Jewish Community Center. Theatre J embraces modern art forms and uses these mediums to educate its community and the public on cultural issues.

This month Theatre J presents Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?, written and performed by monologist Josh Kornbluth (who is not Jewish, but an atheist). Accompanying the performance is the revamped Andy Warhol exhibit “Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century.” Warhol’s chosen consist of Sarah Bernhardt, Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Einstein, Freud, the Marx brothers, Golda Meir, Gershwin, Kafka and Gertrude Stein.

The initial choice of figureheads back in 1980 was a difficult one. Warhol sought advice from such people as Ronald Feldman, of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc; Ruth Levine, the JCC of Greater Washington’s art director at the time; and Susan Morgenstein, who curated both the original and current exhibits. Morgenstein reflected on her experience with the portraits via email.

When you first got the call from Warhol about selecting prominent Jewish figures, what role did you have in selecting the final ten?

It was a collaborative process spurred by Ronald Feldman, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NY. In the exhibition are several “lists” in my handwriting that include figures who do appear in “the Ten” and figures who do not. Also in the exhibition is a letter from me to Ron Feldman, quite far along in the process, still discussing figures to include. So, we were in the process from the call until it ended.

Have the views and criticisms of the exhibit changed over the years?

Yes. The perception of Andy Warhol has changed. These works were judged by some critics as “outside the mainstream” or as unacceptable, or worse. These critics thought that the subject was too serious for “Pop Art.” Now, we think of Warhol’s imagery as so much a part of everyday that the negative criticism is that it’s (Warhol’s imagery) too mundane. These critics, then and now, were and are a small group of voices.

Mainly, the change is that time allows the viewers, as well as the critics, to distance themselves from an old arts argument and judge the work for the work in it.

What do you hope viewers of this exhibit will gain?

A group of four-year-olds in the Center’s pre-school visited the exhibit and a staffer shared their comments with me. They are the greatest critics! Their interest and their lively exchange of ideas, opinions and inquiries into the process is what every curator hopes will happen within the viewing audience!

Do you think Josh Kornbluth’s performance represents the exhibit in a positive light? Did you have a similar reaction to the exhibit?

I have seen Josh Kornbluth’s performance several times. It is a great stage-piece and very moving as well as funny. His reaction to the exhibition impresses me like the pre-schoolers. It is what one wants their creative act – mounting the exhibition – to do: spark other creative conversation and actions.

What portrait resonates with you the most?

Kafka – but the reasons are an essay, not an answer. That would make my own monologue and I am no Josh Kornbluth.

After viewing the exhibit, which Morgenstein wonderfully curated, I made my way upstairs to the theatre and sat amongst – what seemed like – the largest family gathering I’d ever been to.

Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? began ambiguously, touching on numerous topics: religion, capitalism, family and self-discovery. Kornbluth delivered a narrative based on personal epiphany that intersected with Jewish history and Jew jokes. Unfortunately, I am not Jewish, so the latter made me slightly uncomfortable but made the crowd hysterical. I mean, I understand how Kornbluth enjoys talking about himself, and I knew this performance was based on his reaction to Andy Warhol’s “Ten Portraits.” But initially I wasn’t enthralled and kept wondering, why should I care about this baby-boomer’s reaction to prominent Jewish figures?

Dressed in eighties clothing, with eighties portraiture glowing behind him, I couldn’t help but to be absorbed into this kooky man’s self-journey. At points, Kornbluth’s transitions between his own familial experiences and the Jewish figureheads’ history were a bit far-fetched, but overall his stream-of-consciousness was entertaining and thought-provoking.

Toward the end of the piece, Kornbluth recalled a tale of speaking with a rabbi friend about the Warholized Jews. The topic of religion and God became an unequivocal realization for Kornbluth as he decided that, “God is the collective potential of the human imagination.”

And I decided, unequivocally, that maybe this performance is worth seeing despite the stumbling start.

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"Andy Warhol, Good For the Jews?" plays @ Theater J through March 21st. Details here.

Brightest Young Things

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PlayDC: Andy Warhol, Good For The Jews? @ Theatre J

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Kimberly Bryden!