José Lévy. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
By Virgilio O Aran
December 26, 2022
When people talk about the Caribbean, the picture that comes to our mind is people taking a sun bath under the amazing sky of the Caribbean, people dancing and having great joy. However, the Caribbean is more than a place to have a great vacation for those tourists who can afford it. The Caribbean has a great social, political, cultural, and economic complexity where people try to survive and build a better place every day. José Lévy, a Dominican artist of Jewish Sephardic descent, has been exposing the complexity of Dominican society through his art.
The Caribbean, the place that has become a synonym for beach and sun for tourists around the world, is a mythical place where you can find how people have been fighting for years to survive. The Caribbean is a history of resilience and perseverance, socio economic contradictions, and struggle to survive. That history of resilience and perseverance has been shown via art.
Painting by José Lévy. Image courtesy of the artist.
Before the colonization process began in 1492, the island's first inhabitants could express their culture and system of beliefs through the medium of art. When the first enslaved people arrived in the Caribbean, music, painting, and other art forms were tools to combat slavery and unify their struggle with others. Art became a tool to preserve history and one of the tools to liberate against oppression. From dancing to painting, social activists and catalysts of social change continue using art as a form of expression and liberation.
José Lévy is a Dominican artist of Jewish Sephardic descent who has been exposing the complexity of Dominican society through his art. His work has been exhibited in venues throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. Mr. Lévy's art tells the story of the Caribbean and its people, which is often overlooked by mainstream media. He seeks to create a more inclusive society by giving a voice to those who are marginalized. I came to know José Lévy during our teenage years while attending Montessori High School in the Dominican Republic. We befriended, and we shared similar tastes for music and social and political issues. From a young age, Lévy demonstrated a natural skill to convey his social view of the Dominican Republic via his paintings.
After graduating high school, Lévy dedicated his talents to studying Dominican culture in depth and connecting it to part of his Sephardi Jewish history. According to Lévy, "it could be easy for me to explore the different forms of arts, especially those we receive from Europe or the United States. However, my experience as a Dominican Sephardic Jew and the sense of cultural loss due to the erasure of the Sephardi history reminds us that we need to create arts that reflect our culture for the future generation."
Painting by José Lévy. Image courtesy of the artist.
In other words, for Lévy, art becomes a tool for depicting the lives of others but also an instrument to preserve culture in general. For many Sephardic families, the word preservation or conservation is critical due to the loss that Jewish Sephardic families came to experience since the Decree of Expulsion that was issued in 1492.
Sephardic culture, including the language spoken by many Jews who lived in the area of what today is modern Spain, Portugal, and part of northern Africa, almost came to extinction. Thus, Lévy highlights that part of his goal is to preserve his Jewish and Dominican heritage and sharing with the world. As José Lévy, the Sephardic Jewish diaspora continues contributing to the societies in which they live and our Jewry culture.
“For [José] Lévy, art becomes the medium through which he depicts Dominican society and its idiosyncrasies and connects it to its Jewish heritage.”
In synthesis, the Sephardic Jewish diaspora continues impacting different geographic areas, including places people might not expect, such as the Caribbean. For Lévy, art becomes the medium through which he depicts Dominican society and its idiosyncrasies and connects it to its Jewish heritage. Therefore, art merges the history of Lévy's Jewish ancestors and the present Dominican society and ensures the preservation of both cultures for future generations. It demonstrates the complexity and diversity of the Jewish diaspora and a long and rich history that is filled with many social justice accomplishments.
To learn more about José Lévy’s work, you can go here, here and here
References
Andujar, R. (n.d.). José Lévy. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
Menéndez - may. 27, M. (2016, May 27). José Lévy. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
Reitzel, L. (n.d.). Lyle. O Reitzel gallery/Obras José Lévy. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
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Virgilio Oscar Aran is a labor and policy organizer, CUNY alumni and a member of Oheb Shalom Congregation.