As part of Reimagine End of Life’s weeklong series of events sparking conversations about death and dying, this exhibition will expand on the theme through the works of the artist Nancy Patz. Embracing her mother’s death almost fifty years after her passing, Patz uncovers critical moments from her past. It wasn’t until a later age and after having children and grandchildren of her own, that the artist decided to face her loss and confront the silence and the absence she had experienced.

This exhibition consists of drawings, paintings, collages, and poems the artist has been working on for the past 20 years. In the process of making these works, Patz used her personal archive from family albums, looking at her past as an adult, and by so doing carving an exchange between past and present. In her work, she recreates portraits of her mother in different stages of family life: childhood, motherhood, her relationship with Patz’s father, at home and in moments of leisure. By drawing these scenes and writing poems about her recollections through her adult eye, Patz’s emotional work gracefully reviews her mother’s life and her own. We see in her very personal drawings and poems the cycle of life: birth, marriage and death — important passages commemorated in Jewish tradition and a powerful, personal way for the artist to grieve.

Nancy Patz is a Baltimore-born artist. Her work has been exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Goucher College, Holocaust Museum Houston, and Anne Frank Center in New York among others. As an author, illustrator, teacher, and lecturer Patz has dedicated her professional life to writing, inspiring, and delighting young minds. Her numerous popular books for children are distinguished by rhythmic text and rich illustrations, including Pumpernickel Tickle and Mean Green Cheese, Moses Supposes His Toes Are Roses, Gina Farina and the Prince of Mintz, and Bubbe Can’t Eat Kimchee!. Patz’s works have been well-received and honored with many awards, including the Bulletin Blue Ribbon Award from the Center for Children’s Books, the Gold Star Award from the Fund for Educational Excellence, and several Parents’ Choice Awards. Her popular picture book, Who Was the Woman Who Wore the Hat? won the Sydney Taylor Award of The Association of Jewish Libraries, and the Selectors’ Choice Award of the Children’s Book Council and The Council for the Social Studies, among other national awards.

Nancy Patz: All About My Mother is part of Reimagine End of Life in New York City, a full week of 200+ events exploring big questions about life and death through creativity and conversation. From October 27 to Nov 3, 2018, more than 150 collaborators will produce experiences, workshops and performances designed to spark public discussion and connection. Event details and tickets are available at www.letsreimagine.org/new-york.

Saturday, October 27 – Saturday, November 3, 2018
B’nai Jeshurun 270 W 89th St, New York, NY 10024

Free. Tickets for Remembering the Dead and the Living: Sharing Their Stories and are available at
www.letsreimagine.org/new-york or by calling (866) 247-7828