The Star of David

The painting is composed of two separately painted elements: the dark-painted contour of the Star of David, whose interior pulsating with impasto grey-blue paint contrasts with the red, evenly coloured background. Additionally, the artist used the contour to connect two apexes on the right and two on the left side, turning the centre of the geometrical figure into a rectangle. The section is painted with bold brushes and suggests a landscape, and its horizontality confuses the spectator: the symbol becomes a study of nature and abstraction turns into something concrete, while the transformation that takes place before our eyes follows no rational logic or known scenario. To interpret the painting in all its complexity one should remember that the double, superimposed triangles of the so-called Shield of David – a hexagram symbolizing the Jewish nation, Judaism, and also Israel – were used during the Second World War by the Nazis to stigmatize and separate the Jews from the rest of humanity. The Nazis made the descendants of Israel wear the yellow Star of David on their arms, thereby turning the symbol of pride into a tool of genocidal politics and a sign of shame. [A. Markowska]