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Prussian Blue: Yishai Jusidman's cycle of paintings at a new temporary exhibition at the Auschwitz Museum

Starting from October 9, the Auschwitz Museum hosts an exhibition of the Prussian Blue painting series by the artist Yishai Jusidman. This is the first large-scale contemporary art exhibition at the Museum. Nearly 50 works, which have not yet been displayed in Europe, are displayed in the rooms of Block 21 at the former Auschwitz I camp.

The nearly fifty artworks in Prussian Blue are rendered almost exclusively in that color, one of the earliest artificially developed pigments used by European artists. The chemical compound that produces this blue pigment is chemically related to the prussic acid found in Zyklon B, the lethal agent used in some German Nazi concentration and extermination camps. By an unforeseen turn, conspicuous traces of the blue pigment have remained in some of the extant gas chambers.

“It's an incredible privilege and honor to stand here at the Auschwitz Memorial. This being the first time a contemporary artist does such a large-scale exhibition within the structures that this site memorializes. The series was produced between 2010 and 2017 with the idea of being shown in contemporary art museums. For me, I always wanted to bring this exhibition to Europe from the outset. And it proved to be an incredible, difficult challenge because of the subject, I think. It turns out now that the series of paintings comes to Europe for the first time to the Auschwitz Memorial. For me, the event is really one of the most significant, important moments of my life,” said Yishai Jusidman.

“It was not easy to come to Europe with your art coming from Central America. However, the starting point of this art was exactly here. It was this history that went first to Central America, and now the feedback is coming back here. That's why I think it's extremely important. I will not speak about this art, as the art must speak for itself and, as one will see, I think it does speak,” said dr Piotr M. A. Cywiński, the director of the Museum.

“And this is art that not only speaks about Auschwitz, but also about several different sites. It's going through the entire European experience of that time and even it transgresses the borders of the Shoah because it's talking about some other concentration camps and not only other extermination centers like Treblinka, Sobibór or Bełżec,” added Piotr Cywiński.

“Zyklon B leaves traces on many of the infrastructure elements where it has been applied: in gas chambers, but also in other spaces. Very recently, the Auschwitz Memorial preservation team has finished preserving the bathhouse at the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, where Zyklon B was also used as a disinfectant. You can still see the traces today. The title of the exhibition and this chemical effect are very strongly connected. I am very glad that we managed to connect the end of this project with the preservation of the bathhouse. I am confident it is a very important first step in working with art by the Memorial and through the Memorial. Thank you, Yishai, for your trust and to your family, for being here and for your support,” said Wojciech Soczewica, the Director General of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

In the Prussian Blue series, Yishai Jusidman tackles a difficult question: can contemporary art contribute to the collective memory of past atrocities, and if so, how?

„In the early 1950’s, the esteemed cultural critic Theodor Adorno argued that ‘to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.’ His admonition endured. By extension, painters, too, were implicitly discouraged from dabbling with the Holocaust. The gap between the event and the possibility of its representation, we were told, was unbridgeable. Yet with the passing of time and generations, the imperative to suitably address the Holocaust through art has only grown more urgent,” wrote Yishai Jusidman in the introduction text to the exhibition.

The most important part of the series consists of unique naturalistic reproductions of photographs of gas chambers in several German Nazi camps, such as Auschwitz, Majdanek, Stutthof, and Mauthausen, as well as the spaces of extermination centers, including Treblinka and Sobibór.

„While laboring to depict emblematic gas chambers, I endeavored to minimize subjective distortion and limited my palette to three coloring agents, each of which bears a direct connection to the genocide: prussian blue paint, diatomaceous earth, and flesh-colored paints a muted reminder of those murdered within the spaces I depict,” one reads.

The ethical and moral dimensions layered in the aesthetic that propels Prussian Blue will be uniquely deepened when brought forth from within the grounds of the former camp of Auschwitz. While the passing of time relentlessly erodes memory, art may perhaps aid in bolstering and somehow advancing the Memorial’s challenging yet essential mission. Jusidman’s Prussian Blue assumes that task.

For the past four decades, Yishai Jusidman (b. Mexico City, 1963) has engaged traditional pictorial concerns while updating them in his paintings for contemporary relevance. He has an uncanny gift for conjuring naturalistic depictions that probe visual perception and the ethics of representation. Jusidman has held numerous solo exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide and has participated in prestigious biennials and international events. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

The Prussian Blue exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of the Auschwitz Foundation and private donors. The exhibition will be open to visitors of the Museum for a year.