This oil-on-canvas painting titled "Eve and Adam" was created in 2019 by Shelley Lowenstein. The scene is spread across two panels (diptych) and shows a relaxed elderly white couple sitting on a bright yellow bench. On the left panel, the woman sits with her ankles crossed, eyes cast downward, and hands folded on her lap in front of her green-blue purse. On the right panel, a the man sits upright reading a newspaper. He's wearing a white fedora hat and sunglasses. A suitcase is situated next to both the man and the woman. The oil diptych is 17 inches tall and 26 inches wide.
"Eve and Adam", Shelley Lowenstein, 2019, oil on panels, 17" x 26" (diptyph)

Exhibition Press

Jerusalem Post – Authenticity of Jewish Art to be Celebrated

Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, says that “being alive” is the first principle of its vision for Jewish American culture. In Authenticity and Identity, curated by Prof. Ori Z. Soltes, 70 works by 40 different artists from the US, Israel and Europe will be presented in honor of this principle… 

American Israeli Cultural Foundation – Authenticity and Identity

Adas Israel Congregation is presenting Authenticity and Identity, an exhibition curated by Ori Z Soltes, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for the Study of Jewish Civilization, who for four decades has engaged critically with Jewish artwork, politics and culture. The exhibition looks at how artists respond to challenges of Jewish identity, ritual, cultural touchstones, women’s rights issues, assimilation, cultural appropriation, cultural identity, and more.

Baltimore Jewish Life – A Year Late Jewish Art Exhibit Opens

Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC. is presenting Authenticity and Identity an exhibition looking at how artists respond to challenges of Jewish identity, ritual, cultural touchstones, and multiple other topics. Originally scheduled to open in April 2020, Authenticity and Identity is an exhibition curated by Ori Z Soltes, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for the Study of Jewish Civilization, who for four decades has engaged with Jewish artwork, politics, and culture. On April 8, 2021, Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, the curator will discuss Yom HaShoah as he introduces the Holocaust-related artworks and ask for a moment of silence.

Washingtonian – Things to Do April 12-14

Curator and Georgetown University professor Ori Z. Soltes explores the role of Jewish identity in the context of visual arts in a showcase, Authenticity and Identity. The exhibition at Cleveland Park’s Adas Israel Congregation features the photos, paintings, and sculptures of more than 40 Jewish-identifying artists from across the world. See the relics in person until May 14 or visit the gallery online.

Washington Jewish Week – New Exhibit Wrestles with the Jewish Question

In the beginning there was creation: heaven and earth and all that resides therein. Creation begat human creativity. As much as Jews define themselves as the people of the book, particularly in the modern era we have become artists and creators, mining the Jewish imagination in our texts, in our ritual objects and in our family and communal history of settling, uprooting and wandering…

Washington City Paper – Authenticity and Identity Explores Jewish Artwork in a Thorough Online Exhibition

I’ll admit that it took me several chunks of time, distributed across three days, to make my way through the online version of Authenticity and Identity, an exhibition on Jewish artwork curated by Georgetown University professor Ori Z. Soltes. My slow pace wasn’t because the exhibition was boring—in fact, its variety and depth was immersive and thought-provoking—but rather because it was so vast. Authenticity and Identity explores the essence of Jewish artwork from every possible medium and perspective, from young and old to religious and secular. Six substantial sections structure the exhibition….

Washington Post – Jewish Identity and Authenticity

From a “Goy Division” T-shirt to an explication of the non-Anglo origins of Clark Kent’s name, “Jewish Identity and Authenticity” is nearly as sweeping as its title suggests. The show at the Adas Israel Synagogue includes almost 75 pieces that address both mainstream and individual aspects of Jewish life. Curated by Ori Z. Soltes, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for the Study of Jewish Civilization, the selection includes work by Israelis and Europeans, with about half by local artists….

Alma – An Art Exhibit That Captures the Pride, Doubt, and Joy of Jewish Identity

For as long as there have been Jewish people, there have been questions about what it means to be a part of the Jewish people. Our oldest and most sacred texts feature heroes of the Jewish people struggling with, doubting, and even rejecting what it means to be a Jew. Today, this reckoning continues. Jews of Color, queer, gender expansive, and disabled Jews ask, “Do we belong?” As we see progressive social movements shift our society ever closer to justice, some ask, what does this ancient tradition offer me today?…

Georgetown Hoya – Georgetown Professor Explores Jewish Identity Through Art in New Exhibit

In the pigment print titled “Okuniewicz,” a suit-clad Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego, sits above a background of speckled matzo bread. Above Kent’s raised eyebrow and blue-toned hair is typography telling the story of a Jewish immigrant changing his last name to Kent. For artist Gail Rebhan, the piece calls attention to how American culture has obscured Jewish identity…..