Atelier Sid Klein

Kedoshim (Holy Ones) - Holocaust Art
 
 
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                                                                                             MY ZAIDY (Grandfather)
                                                                                   On loan to the Heller Museum, NYC

CV:

      • Selected Works-Museum Traveling Exhibition: Organized by the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum (Hebrew Union College-JIR), New York, NY.

      • Venues:

        • Margolis Gallery, Congregation Beth Israel, Houston, TX (Premiere, Sept. 2026)

        • [Additional venues to be announced]

      • Permanent Museum Collection: Holocaust Art Research Center's permanent collection at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, Israel.
      • International Museum Exhibitions: The Gross-Rosen Muzeum in Rogoznica, Poland, is hosting a solo exhibition of my work (International Holocaust Remembrance Day) through March 2026.
      • Museum Loans: The piece ‘My Zaidy’ is currently on loan to the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum (Hebrew Union College-JIR), New York, NY.
      • Awards and Recognition:
        • Three pieces—‘Warsaw Ghetto Starvation (C)’, ‘My Zaidy’, and ‘Baneinu (Our Sons)’—were juried prize winners in the American Guild of Judaic Art’s 2025 Karen Walenka Memorial Exhibit.
        • Seven pieces---'My Zaidy', 'Innocents', 'Baneinu', 'My Bahby', 'On Our Way To Heaven', 'One Dozen Onesies', and 'Nine More Dead' were juried prize winners in the American Guild of Judaic Art’s 2026 Compassion And Justice Exhibit.
        • ‘One Dozen Onesies’ received the 2025 Special Recognition Award in the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Jewish American Heritage creative contest.
        • Featured in the Foward, "This Jewish artist hadn’t painted in more than 5 decades. Then came Oct. 7". Entry "Nine More Dead".
        • 2026 Walanka Juried Contest, "Every Day Is Holiness", American Guild of Judaic Art, Entry "On Our Way To Heaven".
          https://jewishart.org/walanka-2026/
        • 2026 Juried Contest, "Compassion And Justice", American Guild of Judaic Art, Entries 'My Zaidy", "Onesies", "Innocents", 'My Bahby", "Banainu", "On Our Way To Heaven".
        • https://jewishart.org/compassion-justice/
           
          https://jewishart.org/walanka-2026/
      • Featured Work:
        • ‘My Zaidy’ was featured by Art Against Antisemitism to commemorate Yom HaShoah 2025.
        • The Orthodox Union’s Antisemitism Task Force showcases my artwork.
      • Publications: My art blog is published by The American Diversity Report.

      • Featured Works & Descriptions:

        • BANEINU (Our Sons)

          • Accolade: Juried Prize winner of the American Guild of Judaic Art’s 2025 Karen Walenka Memorial Exhibit. Juried Prize winner of the American Guild of Judaic Art’s 2025 Karen Walenka Memorial Exhibit.

          • Description: A poignant exploration of legacy and loss, this piece serves as a central pillar of the KEDOSHIM series. It captures the visceral weight of historical memory through the lens of familial bond and the tragic interruption of future generations.

        • KEDOSHIM (Series)

          • Exhibition: Featured in the 2026 Solo Exhibition at Gross-Rosen Muzeum, Poland.

          • Description: A comprehensive body of work dedicated to honoring the holy martyrs of the Holocaust. Each piece in this series acts as a visual testimony, designed to confront the viewer with the senselessness of hatred while preserving the dignity of those it memorializes.

        • Yad Vashem Selection

          • Collection: Permanent Collection Holocaust Art Research Center of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

          • Description: Works selected for their historical accuracy and emotional depth, contributing to the global visual archive of the Holocaust. These pieces emphasize the institutional role of art in education and the eternal preservation of memory

They say that an artist’s work is never finished, but in my case, the work took a fifty-five-year hiatus. My name is Sid Klein. For over half a century, I built a life outside of the studio—applying the logic of an MBA to the world of business. I thought my days of staring at a blank canvas were behind me.

But on October 7th, 2023, the world changed. 

And for me, my silence became unbearable. I didn't return to painting because I wanted to; I returned because I was compelled. My hands remembered what my voice couldn't find the words for. I realized that when history begins to repeat its darkest chapters, the artist cannot remain a spectator. I picked up the brush again to paint what an antipathetic world would rather forget.

We live in a time of overwhelming noise, yet there is a terrifying hollow at the center of it. We are witnessing a rise in antisemitism that feels both ancient and brand new. Statistics tell us that over half of Jewish Americans have experienced hate in the last year, but statistics lack a soul. They don't capture the 'despair' or the 'sorrow' of a community under siege.

Another problem I am tackling in my work today is the erasure of memory. The world forgets hate that was, and because of that, it ignores the hate that is. My purpose is to pierce through that forgetfulness. Some of my paintings, like My Zaidy—a portrait of a grandfather I never met because he perished in the Holocaust—are difficult to look at. 

That is intentional.

                                                                                           BANEINU (Our Sons)

The Kedoshim series is an act of reclamation. The word itself—Hebrew for "Holy Ones"—refers to those who have perished for the sanctification of the Divine Name. In this body of work, I seek to transition these individuals from the cold statistics of history into a living, visual presence that demands to be seen.

My practice is rooted in the belief that art possesses a unique utility in the fight against antisemitism. Where words often fail to convey the scale of historical persecution, the visual image can bypass intellectual defenses to reach a place of visceral understanding. Working from my studio, Atelier Sid Klein, I utilize the tactile interplay of charcoal, graphite, ink, and acrylic on paper to mirror the tension between the permanence of memory and the fragility of life.

The aesthetics of Kedoshim are intentionally layered. The charcoal and ink provide a raw, soot-like connection to the past—reminiscent of the very ashes from which these memories are pulled—while the acrylics add a contemporary urgency. These paintings do not merely document the Holocaust; they serve as a social conscience for the present. By confronting the viewer with the faces and themes of past martyrdom, I aim to foster a "never again" that is felt emotionally rather than just recited.

As my work finds homes in institutions like Yad Vashem and the Heller Museum, my goal remains constant: to ensure that the Kedoshim are never relegated to silence. Through these works, I invite a dialogue on the endurance of the human spirit and the artist’s responsibility to act as a guardian of historical truth.

If we turn our eyes away from the canvas, we are turning our eyes away from the humanity of the victims.

The purpose of my work today is twofold: to honor the Kedoshim—the Holy Ones—and to serve as a mirror for the living. My mission is to portray the senselessness of hatred so clearly that it can no longer be rationalized or ignored or forgotten.

I want every viewer to feel the weight of a 'Dead Boy' or the despair of 'Baneinu,' because empathy is the only antidote to the 'ashes' of antisemitism.

I am often asked why I chose to become a 'born-again' artist at this stage of my life. The answer is simple: I have seen what happens when we stay quiet.

My work is currently traveling from New York to Poland to Jerusalem, but its true home is in the conscience of the viewer. I invite you today not just to look at my art, but to bear witness with me. Let us ensure that the darkness of hate never extinguishes the 'elusive light' of the human spirit.

Sid