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What If You Trivialize Hitler?

The question has plagued artists ever since the Holocaust. At least one contemporary artist manages to pass the test.

Bruce Gendelman’s Aerial View of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, 2017. Bruce Gendelman.

Bruce Gendelman’s Aerial View of Auschwitz II-Birkenau, 2017. Bruce Gendelman.
Observation
Menachem Wecker
Dec. 6 2018
About the author

Menachem Wecker, a freelance journalist based in Washington DC, covers art, culture, religion, and education for a variety of publications.

“How do you shoot the devil in the back?” asks the character played by Kevin Spacey in the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects. A similar question has plagued artists for centuries. If evil stops to pose for a portrait, what if you miss your shot, trivializing Hitler or turning Torquemada into a cartoon character?

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More about: Arts & Culture, Holocaust, Painting

 
 
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