About Miriam Stern

Miriam Stern is a painter, printmaker and installation artist. She works with the series of photographs and collages constructing layers of abstraction with elements of reality which then she uses in her paintings. With each piece produced the original elements from her prints become more and more abstract. The themes of her works are often connected to the Jewish values and ideas.  In 2016 a monograph of her art was published titled Miriam Stern.


New Brunswick Art Salon 2015 – Oil Color and Mixed Media

New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Winners: “Resonant Becoming”

Artist Personal Website: MiriamStern.net

Artist Email: Miriam.Stern9@gmail.com


Artist Statement

Using old paintings that I am no longer am satisfied with, I paint over or cover up areas that don’t work and leave some areas alone. These paintings make up my new series titled Cover Up. I paint tarps, canvases, boxes, and packing materials to cover over the old paintings. 

Covering up is a metaphor for hiding or trying to conceal something. Most of the time it is a difficult thing to do like trying to keep a secret. Usually something spills out.  

I began this series at the end of 2019 before Covid. As the pandemic, isolation, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement began, the meaning and significance of the series changed and became more relevant to the times. 

When George Floyd was murdered, his killing and the BLM protests shook me up. As a white, Jewish, middle-class, woman artist I felt the need for introspection and an examination of my own racism and my country’s racist and violent history. 

The tarps became transparent or bandage like. Like someone who has committed a crime and tries to conceal it, it becomes a futile act. What is underneath comes through. Some of the cover ups were painted white like shrouds. Some of what is not covered flows out or bleeds through. 

We may try to cover up our history, but truth will emerge. In this series, even though the visual subject matter is benign, curtains, boxes, tarps and such, the inspiration behind them and the impact, I hope they engender, is powerful. We cannot cover up our past. Rather, we must confront it personally and collectively with honesty. “


Exhibitions

One and Two Person Shows 

  • Art to Feed the Hungry, online sale and exhibition to raise money for charity, 12/19, 11/202o 
  • Main Street Gallery, Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek, Chester, CT., 2019
  • Rosalind & Alfred Lippman Gallery, Congregation Bnai Jeshurun, Short Hills, NJ, Art and Soul, 2018
  • Transformations Gallery, Metuchan, NJ,2017
  • Congregation Shomrei Emunah, Montclair NJ, 2016
  • Brassworks on Grove, The Brassworks Gallery, Montclair NJ (two person show), 2015
  • Congregation Beth el-Kesser Israel, New Haven, Ct, 2014
  • Johnson & Johnson  Corporate Art  Program, New Brunswick, NJ, 2011
  • Watchung Art Center, Watchung, NJ, installation Ezrat  Nashim, 2011
  • Created Be The Tenth, interactive website, http://bethetenth.com, 2009
  • The Interchurch  Center, Treasure Room Gallery, New York, NY, Kishkes, 2009
  • Fairlleigh Dickenson University, Teaneck, NJ, Kishkes, 2009
  • Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY, installation Ezrat Nashim, 2007
  • SMI Gallery at the Clark House, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ, 2004
  • Haworth Municipal Library, Haworth, NJ, 2003
  • Westchester Gallery, State University of NY, Peekskill, NY, 2001
  • New Jersey  Council for the Arts, NJ artist of  the  month (Jan.), website:www.jerseyarts.com, 2001
  • New York University Bronfman Center, New York, NY, 1998
  • The Artist House, Jerusalem, Israel, Time Out, 1998
  • The Nature Center for Environmental Activities, Westport, Ct., Out of Eden, 1997
  • Yeshiva University Museum, New York, NY, And She Took A Veil And Covered Herself, 1995

Selected Group Shows and Juried Competitions

  • Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, D.C., physical and virtual exhibition, curated by Ori Soltes, Jewish Authenticity and Identity, 2021
  • Studio Montclair Gallery, Montclair, NJ, Privilege, Power, and Everyday Life. Juror: Theda Sandiford 2020
  • Studio Montclair Gallery, Montclair, NJ, A Place Called Home, 2020
  • Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery, On the Rocks, New York, NY, 2019
  • Plein van Siena, Spinoza: Marrano of Reason, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Curators: Janet Heit, Billha Zussman, 2019
  • Studio Montclair, State of the Art 2019, Montclair, NJ 2019
  • The Outside In Gallery, Piermont, NY, Inside Small 2018
  • 2018 Interfaith Biennial Exhibition at Dominican University, Love and Truth: an expression of Interfaith Diversity,  River Forest, IL 
  • Mikhail Zakin Gallery, The Art School at Old Church, Toys, Demarest, NJ, Curator: Asha Ganpat 2018
  • Detour Gallery, The Invisible Jew, Red Bank, NJ, Curator: Goldie Gross (Jewish Art Salon) 2018
  • Studio Montclair Gallery, Discovery in the Detail, Montclair, NJ, Curator: Nette Forne Thomas 2018
  • Derfner Judaica Museum, Jerusalem Between Heaven and Earth, Riverdale, NY 2018
  • The Academy Square Building, State  of the Art 2018, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ 2018
  • Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutger University, Transitions, Newark, NJ, Curators:Adrienne Wheeler & Gladys Grauer 2018
  • Jerusalem Biennale, Jewish Art Salon, Between Heaven and Earth, Jerusalem, Israel, Curator: Ori Z. Soltes 2017
  • Hamilton Street Gallery, Lather, Rinse, Repeat, Bound Brook, NJ 2017
  • Knockdown Center, Nasty Women, Maspeth, NY 2017
  • Riker Hill Art Park, Curious Creatures, Livingston, NJ 2017
  • Hillel at USC, Dimensions of Spirituality: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, Los Angeles, Ca 2016
  • Brooklyn Jewish Art Gallery, Passover and the Consequences of Freedom, Brooklyn, NY 2016
  • Nails in the Wall, Gallery at St. Lukes Church, Sacred Spaces, Metuchen, NJ 2016
  • The Boyle Family Gallery, Lindenwood J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, St. Charles, Mo, Freedom Imagined; Freedom Lived, Curator: Naomi Fishman 2016
  • Alfa Art Gallery, Art Salon 2016, New Brunswick, NJ 2016
  • Art Center of Northern NJ, Salute to Women in the Arts, Home, New Milford, NJ 2015
  • Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery, College of St. Elizabeth, Home, Curated by Virginia Fabbri Butera, Morristown, NJ 2014
  • Westchester Community College, 20th Anniversary Retrospective Part I, Peekskill, NY 2014
  • Pierro Gallery of South Orange, Friends and Neighbors, Curated by Jeremy Moss, South Orange, NJ 2014
  • Blue Hill Art and Cultural Center, Transformation, Pearl River, NY 2013
  • Studio Montclair, Photo Surrealism, Academy Gallery, Montclair, NJ 2013
  • Museum of Imajewnation, Freedom Imagined, Freedom Lived: An Artistic Review of the Passover Promise, JCC of St Louis, MO 2013
  • Morris Arts, Rites of Spring, Morristown, NJ 2013
  • 73 See Gallery, Off The Wall, Montclair, NJ 2012
  • Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, Columbia/Barnard College, Context, New York, NY 2012
  • Nails in the Wall Gallery @ St. Lukes, One Stream, Many Wells, Metuchen, NJ 2012
  • Printmaking Council of NJ, Legacy, Branchburg, NJ 2012
  • Arts Council of the Morris Area, Dis-Connected, Morristown, NJ 2012
  • Holocaust Memorial Center, Silent Witnesses, Farmington Hills, MI 2012
  • S.H.E. Gallery, Shequality, Boonton, NJ 2011
  • The Noyes Museum of Art, Gleanings, Oceanville, NJ 2o11
  • Aljira, Center for Contemporary   Art, Newark, NJ, Juror: Rocio Avanda-Alvarado 2011
  • Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art,  The Dura Europos Project,  Philadelphia, Pa. 2011
  • Association of NJ Environmental Commissions, Printmaking Council of NJ, A Reverence for Water, Somerville, NJ, Juror: Candace McKee Ashmun 2010
  • The Charter Oak Cultural Center, Seduced by the Sacred,  Hartford,Ct., curated by Richard Mcbee and Joel Silverstein 2010
  • Printmaking Council of NJ, Myths & Marks: Archetypes  Throughout   the Ages,  Somerville, NJ, curated by Sally Spofford 2010
  • Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery, College of St. Elizabeth, Who We Are: Comtemporary portraits, Morristown, NJ, curated by Dr. Ginny Butera 2010
  • Watchung Arts Center, Contemporary Alternate-Process Photography Exhibit, Watchung, NJ, Juror: Nancy Ori 2010
  • Printmaking Council of NJ, Where Have We Been, traveling show, New Jersey 2010

Publications

  • Miriam Stern, Artist Book, Essay by Sharon Butler, Interview by Sandee Brawarsky, 89 full color plates 2016
  • The Freedom Imagined;Freedom Lived Passover Haggadah, A Project of the Museum of Imajewnation, reproduction of Israel Museum I, p. 41 2015
  • HaLapid, The Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, Fall/Winter Issues 5&6, Cover art and several reproductions 2013
  • Sh’ma, A Journal of Jewish Ideas, online exhibition The Jewish Workplace: Inside the Box, Nov. 1, 2012
  • Yeshiva University Museum: The First 35 Years, 2010, p. 195 photo and description of Ezrat Nashim, p. 245 listing of 1995 exhibition 2010
  • The Jewish Week, Text/Context, Oct. 22, 2010, p.9,10, reproduction of  On the Porch and Bea and Miriam, 2010
  • Israeli Journal written in Hebrew, Sacred Occasions: The Festivals of Israel in Contemporary Jewish Art, edited by David Sperber, article written by Shira       Friedman, P.76, photograph  of  painted  chair  and  text, 2009
  • Cover art, reproduction of  painting Harim, A Great Voice that Did Not Cease by Michael Chernick, HUC Press, 2009
  • Lilith Magazine, Winter 2006- 07, p. 17, reproduction of monprint, Shiksa Arml, 2007
  • JOFA Journal: Spring 2004, Volume 5, Issue 1, p.4, photograph of painted  “Miriam” chair, 2004
  • Na”amat Woman: Fall 2002, p. 5, photograph of painted  “Miriam” chair, 2002

Awards

  • Honerable Mention for oil on canvas, Huangluo Yao, New Brunswick Art Salon 2016, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ, Juror: Jeffrey Wechsler, Senior Curater Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ 2016
  • Grant for Ezrat Nashim installation, Puffin Foundation, Ltd., Teaneck, NJ 2006
  • Third Prize Award, Studio Montclair, Let’s Face It: What is a Protrait?, Gaelen Gallery, Whippany, NJ, Juror: Olya Shevchenko 2004
  • Purchase Award, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, American Impressions, Juror: Judith Brodsky 2004