Join Leon Fenster for a deep dive into his acclaimed “Beijing Haggadah”, the first of a series of vibrantly illuminated Haggadahs that will be based on specific cities and communities. The Haggadah is a traditional book used by Jews each year at the festival of Passover. This time, Leon has used illustration, typography and commentary to situate it in historical Beijing, a historically radical act!
This program is made possible through the support of the Chinese International Education Foundation, and generous supporters of China Institute.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Leon Fenster, an artist from London, depicts the city through a distinctly exilic lens: a unique form of visual story telling which re-imagines and reinvents the familiar, taking the viewer on dream-filled journeys into worlds known and unknown. Leon is perhaps best known for exploring a city and then representing the entire city in a single artwork. Or, similarly, interviewing a family and then depicting their entire world in a single artwork.
For many years Leon devoted himself to designing, writing, drawing and lecturing on the topic of architecture as a means of telling our shared stories. These explorations are evident in his subsequent art.
He is currently engaged in creating commissioned artworks in Mexico City, New York, London and Taipei.
