Gitl Braun: Artist, Sculptor, Photographer
“Continuing a tradition best expressed by painters like Caravaggio”
Guardian
“A diamond salvaged from the darkness”
David Breuer-Weil
Being compared to one of the most enigmatic, fascinating, volatile and
dangerous artists of the 16th-century is perhaps not something to which every
ultra orthodox Jewish mother of eight aspires to. But Gitl Braun is no ordinary
orthodox Jew; nor is she an ordinary artist.
Gitl graduated from Central Saint Martin’s School of Art aged 56, and since then
has established a reputation as an innovative, engaging, and above all a
profoundly sensual artist.
Gitl’s preferred medium is digital photography printed on canvas at the highest
resolution and quality. She arranges fabric folds and produces remarkable
patterns and creases out of sheets of white cloth, which she then photographs
and prints on this contrasting flat medium. The resulting artworks are visually
arresting, and though superficially simple are uniquely powerful.
The highly feminine works have inspired a deep commitment to interfaith
collaboration between the ‘traditional women’ of the Muslim faith and Gitl’s own
orthodox upbringing.
Her second exhibition, Eve’s Daughters, has recently finished its run at the
seemingly unlikely location of Jagonari Women’s Centre in Whitechapel, a
centre more accustomed to the education and integration of Bengali women
than to artistic exhibitions of any kind, let alone provocative, sensual art. Yet the
pieces were highly regarded, speaking to women of all ages in a universal
language that words (quite literally) could not.
Gitls’ third exhibition takes place in Bruce Castle, North London, a location
famed for its continued commitment to the representation of ethnic diversity
and heritage. The exhibition will be held for the entirety of the month of August.
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