Back gallery exhibit:

In Memoriam

Willem Volkersz

Opens June 23, 2011

Willem created the piece in response to events at the elementary school he and his brothers, sisters attended in Amsterdam. He had learned, after being contacted by a teacher at the school, that 166 students and former students from our Montessori school had died in Nazi concentration camps.

 

In 2009 he began working on a the sculpture, In Memoriam, for which he constructed a wooden suitcase for each child on the list; on each lid he painted a child's name and the date, location and age of death.

 

On a stack of three suitcases he mounted a neon image of a stooped boy holding a suitcase. The piece has been installed in several location since, including Bozeman High School, where Willem encouraged the students to help determine how to install the work. We are hoping to have a few students come to the gallery and help with this installation as well. It will likely fill up our whole back gallery space.