Visualizing Audacious Biblical Women for Our Times

When invited to create work for the Jerusalem Biennale (an international art exhibition held every two years in Jerusalem) last year, artist Archie Rand decided to depict "a grouping of Jewish heroes who are women, appearing in an underreported story that should have a painted monument sampling the collective." The resulting 17 paintings, entitled "Iron Flock," are inspired by the Mishnah, Midrash, and the Apocrypha and reveal the audacity, courage, and resilience of biblical women whose deliberate actions changed the course of Jewish history.

These provocative works debuted in America at the Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) this fall and will go on view at the Skirball Museum at HUC-JIR's Cincinnati campus on March 27.

Through bold colors and expressive brushwork, Rand brings to life both well-known and obscure female characters in decisive moments. Their roles are conveyed through unexpected visual interpretations of biblical scenes and surprising juxtapositions. Rand captures these women's vivid stories with the immediacy of comic book and pulp fiction art, the innocence of children's book illustrations, and the melodrama of classic American and Italian films.

"Eve Talks to the Animals" liberates her from traditional depictions of the serpent's temptation and ensuing expulsion. Instead, he places her in a Victorian parlor happily chatting with the other animals that the midrash suggests inhabited the Garden of Eden.

"Tamar and Judah" depicts a victorious, dominant Tamar outsmarting a scarecrow-like Judah, in a scene reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz.

With her red-lipstick mouth wide open, an oversized Miriam leads the women in song in "Miriam Rejoices."

In "Asenath Flees," the noble Egyptian woman who, according to midrash, converted to the Israelite religion to marry Joseph and bear him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, appears with horses in a stable, symbolizing her flight from Egyptian idolatry.

The artist also explores complex connubial relationships.

In "Abraham Sets Sarah's Tent," Rand illustrates the rugged patriarch honoring his wife by first setting up her tent as a place of learning upon their landing on a desert island.

In "Leah Dresses Zilpah," Jacob's weak-eyed, sunglasses-wearing first wife, no longer able to bear children, offers her handmaid Zilpah as a surrogate.

In "Bilhah Nurses Dying Jacob," the handmaid who bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali, cares for the dying patriarch in a log cabin with a tall ladder alluding to his youthful dream and impending ascent.
 

Anachronisms abound.

A jalopy driven by Abraham's servant rushes the future biblical matriarch away from the circus to marry Isaac in "Eliezer Gets Rebecca."

In "Rahab Invites Two Spies," two Nazi-garbed soldiers in a jeep interrogate the Jericho-dwelling prostitute who heroically risked her life by hiding the two spies sent by Joshua to scout the Promised Land and later converted to Judaism, according to midrash.
 

"Deborah Judges Outdoors" places the Bible's only female judge under an umbrella instead of a palm tree, as she renders judgment outdoors because, according to rabbinic tradition, as a woman, she could not do so indoors with the male milkman who has come to seek her counsel.
 

There is poignancy in Rand's "Hannah and Eli," where Elkanah's wife's fervent prayer for a child is mistaken as inebriation by the high priest. A magnum of alcohol ironically looms over the scene as she beseeches him for understanding and gains his blessing to have a child, Samuel, who she will dedicate to serving God.

Rand puts his own spin on fierce acts of feminist valor that saved the Jewish people.

In "Judith and Holofernes" he exaggerates the size of the wealthy widow who looms over the puny Assyrian general as she decapitates him with his own sword to save her city.

In "Yael and Sisera," the tent becomes a Victorian bedroom into which Yael lures the Canaanite general, sedating him with milk while the jumbo hammer on her bed foreshadows how she will drive a tent pin into his head.

There is a harrowing resonance in Rand's "Dinah Abducted," which was deeply felt when this work was exhibited in Jerusalem just a few months after the October 7^th Hamas terrorist attack. Rand's depiction of the assault on Jacob and Leah's daughter includes a looming head and raised arm in the background expressing retribution for this horrific act of violence.

Utilizing his art as a form of visual midrash, Rand invites us to find new meanings in ancient texts that are relevant today. His daring biblical and post-biblical women model the confidence, ingenuity, and fortitude that can inspire us to confront and overcome these challenging times.

"Iron Flock" was curated by Samantha Baskind, distinguished professor of Art History at Cleveland State University, and exemplifies Rand's 40-year career exploring the Bible and Jewish texts through the lens of 20^th-21^st century culture, with over 100 solo exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions, including work in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Exhibition catalog   

Location: Skirball Museum Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220

On View: March 27 - July 8, 2025 

Admission: Free

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 11 am - 3 pm; Sunday 1-4 pm

Tours/Information: awheeler@huc.edu; 513-487-3231