Such were the bedtime stories I was raised on.
[For some samples of the artwork please scroll down the page]
As the son of a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, I grew up hearing the first-hand testimony of a witness to humanity’s darkest moment. Dr. Mengele supplanted Dr. Suess, and the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ did a lot more than huff and puff. Sleeping with the lights on might keep the Boogie Monster at bay, but nothing could beat back the horror of being tucked under the covers by an arm branded with death camp numbers.
As my father left my bedside and headed out the door, he would pause and turn back toward me. “Did you say your prayers?” he would invariably ask.
“Did I what?!”
How can you bequeath me such an encounter with the Devil, and expect me to believe in a loving God? Do you really believe in ‘a happy ending’?
Yet somehow, he did. He and countless other survivors experienced hell on earth, and still found the strength to believe.
What happens when a generation grows up in comfort on the heels of so much horror? How do I make peace between my tranquil existence and my father’s brutal past? What's more, I am raised to believe in the very God responsible for the atrocities of my father’s generation!
It is this struggle to have faith in the midst of madness, and the unique Jewish response to it, that is the subject of Black is a Color, a series of artwork and narratives that express how traditional Jews found – and still find – hope and faith in the midst of the deepest darkness. It is an illumination of man’s post-Holocaust spiritual stature; a search for the happy ending.
I was honored by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum when they elected to acquire one of my pieces for their permanent collection, and by the Buckingham Foundation when they awarded me a grant to offset a substantial portion of the publishing costs.
Which brings me to the issue of funding...
All funds support the non-profit organization, Black is a Color, Inc. As such, donations are either partially or fully TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
I have obtained almost half the funds I need to print the collection of art and prose in a large, hardbound edition. I have come to Kickstarter.com in the hopes that there will be an interest in funding the remaining balance.
In the amazing event that we exceed our goal, I would appropriate the funds towards more books, as well as the expenses required to promote the book. One important promotional device is presentations. I am scheduling showings of my work throughout the country and the world. At the presentations I have conducted thus far, there has been a great interest in obtaining a printed version of the collection.
If you would like to contact me about anything, please email me at lebovic@blackisacolor.com
Many prominent figures have voiced their enthusiastic support for this project.
"It's terrifying, but full of hope, harsh but at the same time sweet. The vivid colors highlight Evil and bring it shockingly close to us, in contrast to the generally dreary pictures of that time and place. In short, you have created an extraordinary experience.
The artist's comments, framed as an inner dialogue, convincingly convey an ongoing struggle and fascination with the subject matter."
Albert Dov Friedberg
Generous philanthropist and sophisticated investment manager with a Ph.D from Toronto University
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“The author of this volume is doubly blessed - a brilliant and talented artist and a writer who manages, in few words, to illuminate the painting and offer his own ideas, often striking in their originality. The reader should not expect a history of the Holocaust or an attempt to evoke tears. There are others who have done so with varying degrees of success. But this work is more; it is one which masterfully engages your eyes and brains at the same time. The reader will learn something of the history of the Holocaust, and there will be enough to tug at his or her heartstrings. But Lebovic’s stunning achievement is a triumph of synthesis, blending art and intellect - and, in addition, with appropriate citations from the vast literature of Judaism, from the Bible to the Talmud to Hasidism, often accompanied by his own original interpretations.”
Rabbi Norman Lamm
Chancellor, Yeshiva University
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"Black is a Color is certainly an excellent example of artistic and literary talent.
It presents the Holocaust in a unique and graphic fashion and gives the reader a deeper sense of that singular time and event of evil run amok. It portrays the quest for faith after all of the horrors of the Holocaust by its survivors and their descendants. It is deeply personal but it conveys broad and important ideas that can touch every human being trying to make sense of the completely irrational behavior that evil unloosed can engender.
How to deal with God and self after such a tragedy is the question that troubles all thinking religious people. This book can help one grapple with that existential issue."
Rabbi Berel Wein
Director, Destiny Foundation Rav, Beit Knesset HaNassi Jerusalem
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"Stan Lebovic's, Black is a Color, is a truly original contribution to Jewish Art and post-Holocaust Jewish thought. His artistic works are a compelling and inviting confrontation with the Event of the Shoah and its implications for our religious life. The confrontation is powerful and open, probing and bold. His commentary is intriguing. Like most good theology after the Shoah, he asks more questions than he answers and invites the viewer and the reader to probe more deeply, ask more profoundly, and engage more completely. The ultimate question: how can one believe in a loving, personal God after the murder on European Jews? This is a brave work that confronts the problem, It offers insights that satisfy for a time but should embolden and deepen."
Dr. Michael Berenbaum
Holocaust scholar and Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, American Jewish University
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"This book offers a highly unusual but very important and different perspective on the Holocaust, it's survivors, and their children. It does so in a highly unusual but brilliantly creative modality - an amalgam of art and poetry. It is a powerful and original work - worthy of publication !!"
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President, Emeritus, Orthodox Union
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"In Black is a Color, Stan Lebovic, son of a Holocaust survivor, offers us a window into his personal quest to wrestle with the darkness that engulfed his father's world. His chosen medium is art -- and the works that he has created are, by turns, wrenching and profound; intimate and provocative; unnerving, revelatory, and, ultimately, redemptive.
To see the Holocaust through Stan's eyes is to look at this cataclysmic event in a deeply personal way, and to wrestle -- vicariously, along with him -- with the really big questions: How one can relate to the God who allowed all this to happen; how one can integrate great suffering into one's life; how one can confront great fear and horror, and -- rather than turn away from it -- truly make black a color to be painted with in the palette of one's life."
Rabbi David Fohrman
Resident scholar, Hoffberger Foundation
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"Jarringly beautiful and profoundly moving, Stan Lebovic fuses multiple mediums - text, photography, and remarkable artistry - to create an eloquent visual masterpiece.
Mr. Lebovic's work heightens the viewer's and reader's consciousness of the unique spirit that pervaded the Jewish experience of the Holocaust."
Mrs. Ruth Lichtenstein
President and editor Hamodia
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"Art is powerful. Midrash is powerful. Successfully merging the two is overpowering.
I was bowled over by this work. The haunting images are evocative and spellbinding in their own right, combining the darkest motifs of the Holocaust with imagery of the fullness of Jewish life. Together with the accompanying text, they are not only a profound response to the Holocaust, but a series of theological statements.
I immediately thought of Marc Chagall's works of crucifixion-in-a-talit, and recognized this work as a far more traditional declaration of what an artist - himself the son of a survivor - came to understand and wishes to teach."
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Director of Interfaith Affairs, Simon Wiesenthal Center
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"I am speechless. You have articulated the complex feelings of an entire generation and given a wake up call to all of us to remember and think about the Holocaust and its forever impact upon Klal Yisroel. The illustrations felt like a punch in the stomach and yet a comfort, all at the same time.
This is a masterpiece beyond description, although I haven't finished reading it all. You are an extremely talented and powerful writer in addition to the power of your drawings. I can only begin to try to understand the challenge of this talent and the deep feelings and thoughts that go along with it.
There are no words to describe what you have done here."
Dr. Aviva Weisbord
Head of the Jewish Big Brother and Big Sister League (JBBL) and its Jewish Addiction Services program
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"We are delighted to inform you that the Yad Vashem Art Committee has reviewed your artworks, and has decided to accept the work: "Culture Shock", to our collection. The artwork will be a welcomed addition to our Museum and augments our effort to establish an all-encompassing collection."
Yehudit Shendar
Deputy Director and Senior Art Curator Museums Division Yad Vashem
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"Ever since being introduced to the works of Mr Lebovic, I have been in awe of the depth and creativity therein. As a student of the Holocaust, I find his art both challenging and thoughtful. The written explanations serve to illustrate the complexities of this unique and unparalleled tragedy in Jewish History.
I am surely no expert in art, but to my mind, Mr Lebovic, once truly discovered by the general public, will be a very positive addition to Holocaust education."
Rabbi David Milston
Rosh HaYeshiva, Midreshet HaRova, Seminary for girl
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Remember, if you would like to contact me about anything, please email me at lebovic@blackisacolor.com
