arts & culture
Hyatt Centric Exhibit
Features Israeli-born Artist
B Courtesy of Punch Media
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
edecked in a gold chain, a
Sharpie-tattooed heart on his
face, a rainbow pin draped from
his torso and an evil eye — harkening
to a Jewish superstition — around his
neck, the statue of George Washington
is still recognizable as the American
forefather in John Y. Wind’s sculpture.

But instead of merely representing
America’s fi rst president, the sculpture
shows all that America can be in terms
of political and personal identities, rep-
resented in knickknacks strewn on top
of and around the leader’s body.

Washington is one of several American
Revolution heroes to whom Wind gives
the assemblage treatment. In “Whiskey
Rebellion,” Jewish, Israel-born artist Wind
challenges the masculinity and heroics of
the country’s early leaders, giving them
expansive American identities that address
the country’s racism, antisemitism and
homophobia in the process. Th e exhibit
is on display through Nov. 27 at the Hyatt
Centric in Center City.

Part of the hotel’s monthly “Maker
Series,” the exhibit is an avenue to draw
attention to Philadelphia artists from vis-
itors, as well as to draw locals to the hotel.

Th e series began earlier this year, and
Wind’s works, perched on the hotel’s
lobby bookshelves, will be the series’
fi rst sculptural installment.

“Not only is that just creating a truly
diff erent vibe in our lobby, but he’s
also showcasing the history of not just
Philadelphia, but America in general, in
a totally diff erent light,” said Elizabeth
Fricke, Hyatt Centric Center City direc-
tor of sales and marketing.

With a background in jewelry and
found object sculptures, Wind became
fascinated with a collection of American
hero-themed whiskey decanters he
found in his fi ance’s grandmother’s
basement shortly aft er her death.

Th e fi gures — representatives of all 50
states — sat in Wind’s South Philadelphia
studio for months, until he was asked to
participate in the Maker’s Series.

“I knew it would include some kind of
transformation; I knew it would include
poking fun at their heroic presentation;
I knew it would include the language of
John Y. Wind is an Israel-born
Jewish sculptor and Jeweler
based in South Philadelphia.

jewelry,” Wind said of the exhibit.

Th e name of the exhibit “Whiskey
Rebellion” is a reference to the 1794
uprising of farmers and distillers aft er
the freshly formed U.S. government
under Washington enforced a whiskey
tax. Wind wanted to similarly challenge
Washington’s authority.

As a gay, Jewish man, Wind, 61,
intended to comment on the growing
polarization of American politics, draw-
ing on humor and irreverence to trans-
form stoic, upright American heroes
into symbols of pluralism and mul-
tifaceted identities, confronting their
legacies as red-blooded men and rugged
champions of democracy.

In addition to Washington and
Th omas Jeff erson, Wind gives assem-
blage makeovers to the foreign-born
Th addeus Kosciuszko and Napoleon
Bonaparte in the exhibit.

“I’m really interested in portraiture,
and how objects in our lives represent
diff erent aspects of who we are,” he said.

“Th at’s digging into the individual. But
then, because these objects are familiar
and relatable [to] others, it takes it from
the specifi c to the general.”
Wind refers to most of his sculptural
pieces as “portraits,” in the sense that
they represent a singular person or idea.

In other projects, he’s drawn on personal
stories as inspirations for his pieces.

In “Portrait of Zoltan,” a 2021 piece,
Wind sculpts a portrait of his grandfa-
ther Zoltan Windt in the form of a suit-
case fi lled with tchotchkes, heirlooms
and photographs.

In 1932, Windt emigrated from
Hungary to Haifa, British Mandate
Palestine, the precursor to the state of
Israel. He originally came as a tourist and
fell in love with Wind’s grandmother,
whose parents owned the penzion, or
hostel, where Windt stayed. Th e couple
owned a men’s clothing store for 40 years.

Aft er Windt died in the 1990s, Wind
began collecting his grandfather’s left -
over belongings, including his Israeli
passport, which features in the piece.

“I’ve always been the family archivist
and the one who keeps the stuff ,” Wind
said. Like his immigrant grandfather,
Wind has also reckoned with his iden-
tity. Born Yaron Windt, Wind changed
his name to Jaron, and later John, upon
moving to the United States at age 3,
hoping his name would be easier to
pronounce. Th e push and pull of his
identities is something featured in his
work explicitly and implicitly.

“George Washington” in John
Y. Wind’s “Whiskey Rebellion,”
covered in found objects and
mounted on books
As he refl ects on depicting American
heroes in “Whiskey Rebellion,” he feels
the tension of both revering American
history but also feeling alienated from it.

“As an immigrant, and as a gay man,
I’ve also always been aware of having
an outsider status,” he said. “And that
shapes the way that I approach these
fi gures.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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