A Long And Amazing Life Ended Today

I just learned that Gerda Bernstein passed away peacefully today.  If I've got my dates right, she was just shy of her 101st birthday.  

She was my mother's first cousin and was able to get out of Germany before World War II started.  She was always a presence in my life, though I'd say she knew me longer than I knew her.  My family moved to LA from Chicago when I was still under three. While I see pictures in the photo albums of her in Los Angeles, I don't really remember her from then much.  

My first vivid memory was when I traveled back home from my junior year studying in Germany and stopped for a day in Chicago.  She was a bigger than life person - warm, beautiful, welcoming.  Here's a picture of her wedding I found during this stay in LA .  

Below is from a post I wrote in 2016 when we visited her huge art studio in a warehouse in Chicago.  She was a significant artist.  Much of her work was large installations.  Her website says:

"Gerda Meyer Bernstein is an internationally known Chicago-based artist who addresses thorny global issues. Her previous exhibitions include "Witness & Legacy," a traveling museum exhibition; The Alternative Museum in New York City, The Spertus Museum and Cultural Center in Chicago; "Passages" at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum; and at the New Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany."

  I have some video from that trip which I thought I'd put up.  I'll try to add it later.  

Then we went to visit a first cousin of my mom's, who is also an artist of some stature - Gerda Bernstein.  We, fortunately, met her at her studio.  My mom's had a lithograph of hers hanging in her house forever and I've seen catalogues of her work.  But since most of her works are large installation pieces, there's nothing like seeing things as they were meant to be seen.  The studio is a small gallery.  Some of the installations are up, but most are represented by photographs.  I want to do more on Gerda, but were busy every day visiting folks so this is just a brief post. 

On the left is view from near the entrance to the studio. 

This piece is called Gaza Tunnel.  It's a reconstruction of the tunnels used to smuggle things into Gaza.  But this tunnel is reimagined to be lined with books and the idea of the transformational power of books. 

Most of her works raise issues of people's suffering in the world.  As I understand it - though I'm not positive - many early works were holocaust related and the focus has taken in other oppressed peoples. 

I'm afraid I was overpowered by the art in the studio.  My initial interest in Gerda is that she's the only person I know of who is still alive who knew my mother when she was a young girl in Germany.  We talked about that a little bit, but the art was too strong to resist.