Photo Courtesy of HMLA
Acclaimed Artist and Composer Harley Gaber Juxtaposes Images of Perpetrators and Victims That Provoke Key Questions for Our Times
Holocaust Museum LA presents “Die Plage,” a large-scale collage by visual artist and minimalist composer Harley Gaber, opening Feb. 6, 2025. The installation, which focuses on his World War II canvases, will be on display at Holocaust Museum LA for the first time.
Harley Gaber (1943-2011) worked on “Die Plage” from 1993-2002, shaped by his multiple trips to Germany in which he combed archives, explored historical sites and visited former concentration camps to inform his process and body of work. He used collaging techniques and mixed media to create arresting images that juxtapose perpetrators and victims in a work spanning 4,200 canvases. Six hundred of the canvases will be on display at Holocaust Museum LA, covering six walls in striking grid-like formations, as per the artist’s original design and intention. The exhibition will also feature a number of Gaber’s personal objects, family photographs and examples of his musical scores.
Described as “a major work of art, of great splendor and profundity; a powerful immersive experience to behold … a vast, absorbing installation,” “Die Plage” “captures the tumult and terror of those years through a thoughtful, aggressive barrage of images.”
Born in Chicago to a Jewish family, Gaber relocated to New York and became one of America’s early minimalist composers. His groundbreaking album, “The Winds Rise in the North,” has been hailed by musician Keith Fullerton Whitman as, “one of the holy grails of minimalism in music in the 20th century.” In 1978, Gaber moved to California. He stopped composing and focused on creating photo collages. He returned to composition in 2008 and produced two musical works before his death in 2011.
After his death, the Gaber estate gifted “Die Plage” to the Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation in Chicago, which manages the artist’s body of work and is the generous primary sponsor of the exhibit at Holocaust Museum LA. HMLA’s “Die Plage” exhibit will be on display until June 30, 2025.
The museum will hold an opening event on Feb. 6 featuring a panel discussion with Dan Epstein, founder and president, Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation; Judy Margles, director emerita of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education; Mark Breitenberg, arts educator and friend of Harley Gaber; and Melissa Martens Yaverbaum, exhibit curator. The discussion will be moderated by Jordanna Gessler, Holocaust Museum LA’s chief impact officer. The Bauman Trio will perform music that inspired Harley Gaber’s compositions.
For information on the opening event, visit https://holocaustmuseumla.org/event-details/exhibit-opening-die-plage.
For more information on the exhibit, visit: https://holocaustmuseumla.org/die-plage.
About Holocaust Museum LA
Holocaust Museum LA is the first survivor-founded and oldest Holocaust Museum in the United States and houses the West Coast’s largest collection of Holocaust-era artifacts. Since 1961, the museum has carried on the mission of the founding survivors to commemorate those who perished, educate future generations about the Holocaust, and inspire a more dignified and humane world. Museum admission is free for all teachers, students and children under 17 and is also free for visitors all day Sunday. A mobile guide to the museum that can be used both on-site and off-site and can be accessed through the Bloomberg Connects app or downloaded on Google Play or the App Store. https://holocaustmuseumLA.org/
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