Cambridge Library Presentation My Holocaust Heritage and the Basis of some of my Artistic Works Fred K. Manasse April 14, 2011
Points I will cover in this presentation My childhood in Germany & the Diaspora which brought me to the USA My Diaspora- the Sculpture –My first attempt at expressing my own familys sacrifice to save my brother and me –A way to remember my personal loss of family Creative Art as a relief from my EarlyTrauma –A method for expressing residual effects on being a holocaust survivor –As a way to remember my personal loss
Papa, Gus and Mama~1934
Mama and we kids ~1938
Family pictures from before 1939
Gus, me and Papa in Brussels-1939
Group Photo at Seyre
Chateau de la Hille, Montegut-Plantorel, Vichy France
Inside entrance gate at Chateau de la Hille
My Moyen Kinder Group Photo at La Hille ~
Myriam in Frankfurt a/m ~1941
Papa, Tante Liesel, Gus and Camp Gurs 1942
Me with my Pilot helmet and big stick hiking with my Kinder Group at La Hille ~
Memorial Chateau de la La Hille, Montegut-Plantorel
Jewish Children in Safe House Barcelona, Spain
Jewish Children in Orphanage, Lisbon,Portugal
Selected images of Fred Manasse & family in USA
Me when I left Europe and arrived in America-Jan. 11,
My Alien Registration Card on Arrival in USA – Jan
Gus, Helen, Annette and Me when we Married -Jan. 22,
Basis of My Diaspora -- My intact Family in Germany My last visit with my father in France Camp Gurs, March, The last picture of my sister Myriam on her 5 th birthday in Frankfurt a/m The actual Sculpture – My Diaspora -- Creating the sculpture
My Diaspora An assembled bronze sculpture of my own family heritage as of January
B lowup of base & middle of My Diaspora The murdered/missing family members 23
Artist Statement by Fred Manasse In all of my artistic work, I try to represent a very personal vision of my subject matter and the target audience for whom the finished work is intended. In my sculpture I want to let my passions and emotions dominate the pieces I create rather than trying to make accurate representations of what I see directly. In my figurative work, although I look at the model and capture the geometry of the figure, I then adjust the sculptural gesture and features to match my inner view of the model to better reflect my own emotion and mood, thereby offer ing the viewer an insight of the person depicted in the sculpture. I am passionate about the individualistic figurative works I create, and as a member of the Beaumont Sculpting group for 7 years have now created more than a dozen bronze and resin nudes. I have also done over a half dozen more abstract assembled works based on my heritage as a child survivor of the Holocaust. I have a number of themes that I am trying to convey to the public about tolerance in those works, and have participated and even curated, a number of exhibitions by joining with other artists. This provides me with more extensive opportunities to make my social views a forum for helping the viewing public to change the world to one which is devoid of intolerance and persecution
Some Additional Sculptures Created with the Holocaust in Mind Specific sculpture which I created to demonstrate that my emotions can be clearly displayed in my art Other examples of my Emotion based art –Art can sometimes do a better job than prose in displaying emotions –Creating people immersed in traumatic situations can relieve an artists trauma
Tante Liesel and Evelyn in Gurs-2005 ; Painted Resin
Despair- A face of Suffering
Female Camp Resident
Reaching for the Fence ; Painted Resin
30
A Menorah for the Victims Stained Glass -2002
Remember Them -2010; Assembled Bronze
In Memoriam 33
34 For my Murdered Family Members in the Holocaust Assembled Bronze on Granite