For 9/11, I am sharing a picture of Jerome Witkin's multi-panel painting called "Taken." As Jerome has mentioned in interviews, he had a cousin who was a first responder in New York on that day. She died of cancer after inhaling the chemical-laden dust and debris while working to save lives at the World Trade Center. He did this monumental work in tribute to her, to the other first responders, and to all whose lives were taken on that fateful day. As Jerome himself said in a 2010 talk at Indiana University, "It is a privilege to paint such difficult things." You can hear Jerome Witkin discussing this powerful work, and his art in general, in this WCNY Arts Talk interview from September 2011 at
https://soundcloud.com/marie-lamb/jeromewitkin091111 There is also some more about it here:
http://imagejournal.org/imageupdate/35_031001.htm This small photo does not really do justice to this large-scale work, but I am sharing it here today to remember Jerome's cousin and all the others who died 11 years ago on this date, or in the aftermath of the tragedy.
