Introduction provided by the artist, Mr. Stan Lebovic

Current Exhibit:

From Branded to Bound
Keeping faith in spite of losing the faithful

 

An elderly gentleman unexpectedly approached a group of young boys on the street...

He rolled up his shirt sleeve,
revealing a row of faded death-camp numbers;
his arm trembled before our stunned faces.

‘Never forget what they did to us,’

came his resolute plea.

He rolled his sleeve back down
and bid us farewell.

- As retold by one of the boys -

 

Black is a Color, Inc., a not-for-profit organization shines a penetrating light down the darkest corridor of man's history. Through the eyes of Stan Lebovic, the gifted artist, a survivor’s son, we see a soul grappling with the unremitting longing for meaning behind the horror. His unique talent and perspective takes us beyond the nightmare into an exquisite world of hope and faith.

“As the son of a man who also carried numbers on his arm, I cannot and will not forget. My hope is that my images will impel others to do the same.”
-Stan Lebovic-

His many unforgettable photo-realist works of art depict the Holocaust’s profound and indelible impact on the generations born from the horror. Explanatory essays detail the intent of each visual presentation.
We offer your organization this integral opportunity to enhance your own efforts in commemorating the martyred six million and honor those precious few who remain, inspiring us to embrace the blessing of life and the eternity of their heritage.

IN THE PRESS

The Baltimore Jewish Times

The Baltimore Examiner

Exhibit Specifications
NUMBER OF WORKS	18 Canvas Giclees ranging in size from 20"x9" to 25"x60"; 1 self-portrait of the artist
SPACE REQUIREMENTS	45 linear feet
RENTAL FEE	$1,800- up to 4 Weeks; $2,600- up to 8 Weeks; $3,200- up to 12 Weeks
SUPPORT MATERIALS	19 Display easels; 1 retractable display banner, 78" high; 11 x 17 Marketing poster (electronic file in B&W); 200 promotional postcards; Gallery guide detailing the title and motivation for each piece (electronic file in B&W); Education Guides available upon request (electronic)
Venues are limited. Schedule an exhibit today!

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Introductory Essay

"More than at any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
                                                                                                      Woody Allen

The Sun at high-noon may be the hottest, but it is the setting sun that produces the longest shadows. The generation of the Holocaust was branded by the greatest empire of evil ever to walk the earth. Even as that generation dwindles, the long shadow cast by their oppressors continues to grow. Mankind finds itself groping in the almost pitch black awareness of the absurd madness of its reality. “The Eternal shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and disquietude of heart: And thou shalt grope at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in thick darkness…”1

Indeed, the existentialist author, Albert Camus concludes that; “The modern mind is in complete disarray. Knowledge has stretched itself to the point where neither the world nor our intelligence can find any foot-hold. It is a fact that we are suffering from nihilism.”

The life we have inherited, being lived in the shadow of a devastating holocaust, is one which defies all reason. When evil can be allowed to express itself with such unabashed vigor, how can existence find any takers? How can a people who witnessed babies being tossed in the air and fired upon for target practice continue to procreate? When the most cultured and sophisticated society on the planet was capable of performing unspeakable human experimentations, how can we avoid total anarchy? In an ironic fashion, it is Dr. Joseph Mengele, the notorious ‘Angel of Death’, who best described our paradox. Mengele was a medical officer at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In March 1944, a 12 year old Czechoslovakian boy named Marc Berkowitz arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau with his mother. As a twin, he was chosen for experimentation by Mengele. He relates: “One morning in July 1944 I spotted my mother among a long line of women moving toward the gas chamber. Mengele called me in and gave me an errand to the crematorium. He knew I would see my mother go to her death. A couple of days later he asked me if I still believed in God.”

With prophetic accuracy, the ‘Angel of Death’ himself provides us with the fundamental dilemma facing all subsequent generations: How can any of us believe in anything? With the Devil apparently running the show without any restraint what-so-ever, how could anyone still hold out hope for a compassionate God? Yet, based on countless stories of Jews being led to the gas chambers with the song ‘Ani Mamin’2(I believe), on their lips, we have to conclude that much to Mengele’s chagrin, the Nazi killing machine was effective at Homicide, but largely ineffective at Deicide.

Without attempting to understand how faith can survive in a Nazi death camp, perhaps we can at least use its implications to our advantage. If the cards are stacked so high in favor of nihilism, then our determination to find some reason to believe is no minor feat. There is a direct correlation between how difficult an event is to overcome, and the strength of those able to overcome it. The victims, survivors, their children, and all subsequent generations need to realize that they are not merely victims, survivors, or sons of survivors; they are heroes. Only heroes could come face to face with the Devil, stare him down, and remain standing. By all stretches of the imagination, our encounter with the Devil should have rendered us all into demonic disciples. Our resilience must not be underestimated. We look with an intensity of horror at Nazi atrocities. Should we not show equal amazement at our ability to carry on?

The mantra for the holocaust is, ‘never forget’. The hope of that slogan is that by remembering, we will see to it that it doesn’t happen again. The logic in a remembrance serving as a future deterrent is questionable, but as a litmus test for determining humanity’s ability to triumph over evil, remembering is vital. Without a clear memory of how bad it can get, we have no way of knowing how good we have been. It is as if we are living on some cosmic seesaw. Without a counter-weight to lift us off the ground, we merely grovel in the dust. However, having a counter weight with the critical mass of the Holocaust, we are not just lifted high in the air, but catapulted into the sky. At such heights even the simplest acts become heroic, making even the simplest of us heroes.

In the shadow of darkness there exists a great light…the light that shines within us. It is this light, which the body of work titled, Black is a Color hopes to illuminate.

“Still at the end of every hard day people find some reason to believe.”