GERSHON ISKOWITZ "NORTHERN LIGHTS #8" 1984It is hard to reconcile Gershon Iskowitz's (1921 1988) aesthetic with his personal history. As a Holocaust survivor, he experienced the darkest side of humanity yet built a life dedicated to creating art and beauty. Born to a religious family in Poland, Iskowitz was allowed to leave Yeshiva (Jewish religious studies) in order to study art independently. The outbreak of war forced him to return to his hometown where he was conscripted to forced labor,

Town used everyday objects to create these designs

made up the quartet of American abstract painters that radically defined abstraction and established New York City as the center of the art world for the second half of the 20th century

Over four decades

yet changing or morphing from frame to frame

Untitled (Evolution of Man)

Mark Rothko

and penicillin were produced

sheltered upbringing and the mainstream fashion industry to create her own definitions of beauty

While a figure can still be made out

and Louise Nevelson

emerald green

From the onset of her career Pepper’s works were either created or intended to be exhibited outdoors