"Annette Turow's new series of semi-abstract paintings, Retelling, all from 2003, once again recreate events inspired by her own life. This time in her ongoing narrative, she reprises the story of the Jews' miraculous escape from Egypt, celebrated by the Passover Seder. Turow's visualization of the Hagadah, the book of instructions and prayers that govern the Passover Seder, consists of selected scenes from recollected family gatherings, choosing high points in the ceremony which are also moments of deeply felt, personal significance, emblematic of her childhood. These include I Love You Too;1 in which Turow arrived at a new way to render her figures, picturing them in a more linear, geometric and primativist style, also evident in "The Sharing of the Prayer Shawl," a representation of the artist and her father and one of four paintings of the same title." -- Lilly Wei*  *Lilly Wei is a New York based independent curator and a frequent contributor to Art in America, ART News and Art Asia Pacific.

Retelling Mixed Media Paintings by Annette Turow Seder: The Order of Retelling "But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children's children." Deuteronomy 4.9

"Retelling is a series I have been contemplating for the twenty-five years since my father died. I have used memories of being in the synagogue on the "Men's Side" sharing the prayer shawl with my father and the story of the Exodus that is retold each Passover to express my profound engagement with my father's legacy as a Jew."   Kiddush

Sharing the Prayer Shawl1 Sharing the Prayer Shawl 3

Sharing the Prayer Shawl2 Sharing the Prayer Shawl4

Seder Plate   "In the retelling of the Passover story, the parents engage the children in a complex dialogue and ritual. I have tried to express this dynamic engagement between parents and children through the textures, colors, and forms that feel so real to me. This series is my own version of our family Hagadah, the book that tells the story at the Passover Seder. It is the expression of each part of my story which I retell through memories of my father."

Wise,Wicked,Simple,Naive1	Exodus	Midrash 1	Midrash 2
Midrash 3	Wise,Wicked,Simple,Naive2	Time in the Desert	Manna from Heaven
Convenent	Sumptuous Feast	Elijah: The Empty Seat	Wandering in the Desert

Dayenu: Gratitude "Dayenu" is a song, sung during the Seder, which is often interpreted as "it would have been enough." As I worked on the expression of that concept, I felt that it really was a song about gratitude and that followed with forms which grew into the composition of a family. I am very grateful that I have been part of families of both relatives and friends, which sustain me. Each memory, retold many times, contributes to the core of who I am and what I have to offer." -- Annette Turow

Robert at the Table

Robert Chad Gad Ya In Memory of Robert Weisberg, 1925 - 1978

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