Martin Ulman


DEATH CAMP
2011
49” X 25 ½” X 53” TALL
PARLOR STOVE
SINK LEG
OVEN PARTS
FENCE POST
IRON TRIVET
TRAINS & TRACKS

GERMAN DEATH CAMPS OR EXTERMINATION CAMPS WERE DESIGNED AND BUILT BY NAZI GERMANY TO SYSTEMATICALLY KILL MILLIONS OF JEWS AND OTHERS CONSIDERED ( Untermenschen ) PRIMARILY BY GASSING, ( ZYKLON B ) BUT ALSO IN MASS EXECUTIONS AND THROUGH EXTREME WORK UNDER STARVATION CONDITIONS. AT AUSCHWITZ, THE CORPSES WERE INCINERATED IN CREMATORIA DESIGNED BY SPECIALISTS FROM TOPF AND SONS. THIS GENOCIDE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE WAS THE THIRD REICH’S FINAL SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH PROBLEM ( Judenfrage ). IT IS NOW COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE HOLOCAUST AND THAT SIX MILLION JEWS WERE KILLED.

KRISTALLNACHT
NIGHT OF THE BROKEN GLASS
2010
49 3/8” X 25 3/8” X 44” TALL
SYNAGOGUE BENCH ENDS
PHONOGRAPH LID
FIRE HOSE REEL SHELF
TABLE LEGS
CHAIR PARTS
MIRROR FRAME
FLOOR GRILLE

KRISTALLNACHT WAS A POGROM AGAINST JEWS THROUGHOUT NAZI GERMANY ON 9-10 NOVEMBER 1938, CARRIED OUT BY S.A. PARAMILITARY FORCES AND GERMAN CIVILIANS. AUTHORITIES LOOKED ON WITHOUT INTERVENING.

JEWISH HOMES, HOSPITALS, AND SCHOOLS WERE RANSACKED. OVER 1000 SYNAGOGUES WERE BURNED AND OVER 7000 JEWISH BUSINESSES WERE DESTROYED. THE PRETEXT FOR THE ATTACKS WAS THE ASSASSINATION OF THE NAZI GERMAN DIPLOMAT ERNST VOM RATH BY
HERSCHEL GRYNSZPAN, A GERMAN BORN POLISH -JEW LIVING IN PARIS.

WHEN THE INSURANCE COMPANIES COMPLAINED ABOUT THE NUMBER OF CLAIMS THEY WERE RECEIVING, THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT PASSED A LAW FORCING THE JEWS TO PAY A COLLECTIVE FINE OF ONE BILLION MARKS (judenvermogensabgabe)  AS WELL AS NEGATING THE INSURANCE CLAIMS.

PARIS ROUNDUP
2011/2012
37 5/8” X 43 5/8” X 32” TALL
SEWING MACHINE CABINET DRAWERS
TRAINS & TRACKS
THE DRANCY INTERNMENT CAMP WAS AN ASSEMBLY AND DETENTION CAMP
FOR CONFINING JEWS WHO WERE LATER DEPORTED TO THE EXTERMINATION CAMPS DURING THE GERMAN MILITARY ADMINISTRATION OF OCCUPIED FRANCE
DURING WWII.  IT WAS LOCATED IN DRANCY, A SUBURB OF PARIS, FRANCE. BETWEEN JUNE 1942 AND JULY OF 1944, DURING ITS USE AS AN INTERNMENT
CAMP, 67,000 JEWS WERE DEPORTED FROM THE CAMP IN FRENCH RAIL TRANSPORTS  (SNCF NOW CALLED KEOLIS).
AFTER THE DEFEAT OF FRANCE IN 1940, A VOTE OF FULL POWERS TO MARSHAL PHILIPPE PETAIN, THE REPUBLIC WAS ABOLISHED AND VICHY FRANCE WAS PROCLAIMED. THE VICHY GOVERNMENT COOPERATED WITH NAZI GERMANY,
HUNTING DOWN FRENCH JEWS AND TURNING THEM OVER TO THE GESTAPO
FOR TRANSPORT TO THE EXTERMINATION CAMPS.

THE DRANCY COMPLEX WAS CONCEIVED BY THE NOTED ARCHITECTS MARCEL
LODS AND EUGENE BEAUDOUIN AS A STRIKING MODERNIST URBAN COMMUNITY. POETICALLY NAMED (La Cite de la Muette) THE SILENT CITY, THE NAME BECAME TWISTED WITH BITTER IRONIC MEANING.

SWISS BANK
2011
WOOD TRIM
WAFFLE MAKER
TRAINS & TRACKS
CHAIR PARTS
THE WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS LAWSUIT LED BY EDGAR BRONFMAN AGAINST SWISS BANKS WAS LAUNCHED TO RETRIEVE DEPOSITS MADE INTO SWISS BANKS BY VICTIMS OF NAZI PERSECUTION DURING AND PRIOR TO WWII. INITIATED IN 1995 AS WJC
NEGOTIATIONS WITH BOTH THE SWISS GOVERNMENT AND ITS BANKS OVER
BURDENSOME PROOF-OF-OWNERSHIP REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTS, STRONG SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED STATES POLOTICIANS PRESSURED A SETTLEMENT
IN 1998. AS OF 2015, 1.28 BILLION USD HAS BEEN DISBURSED.

THE SWISS GOVERNMENT AND THE SWISS PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE
BEING BLACKMAILED BY THE US GOVERNMENT AND SPECIFICALLY THE JEWS.

WARSAW GHETTO
2013
47 ¼” X 37 ¾” X24” TALL
SEWING MACHINE CABINET DRAWERS
PIANO KEY LID
VEGETABLE GRATERS
LAMP PARTS
ERECTOR SET PARTS
OUTLET PLATES
TRIVET

THE WARSAW GHETTO WAS THE LARGEST OF ALL THE JEWISH GHETTOS IN NAZI-OCCUPIED EUROPE DURING WWII. IT WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE NAZI GERMAN AUTHORITIES IN THE MURANOW NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE POLISH CAPITAL BETWEEN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 1940. THERE WERE OVER 400,000 JEWS IMPRISONED THERE BEFORE BEING DEPORTED TO NAZI  DEATH CAMPS. THE WALL AROUND THE GHETTO WAS 10 FEET AND TOPPED WITH BARBED WIRE. A SMALLER GHETTO WAS CREATED ADJACENT TO THE MAIN GHETTO AND CONNECTED WITH A WOODEN FOOTBRIDGE SO AS TO SEPARATE THE GHETTO POPULATION FROM THE REST OF THE CITY.

THE GHETTO UPRISING BEGAN IN JANUARY 1943 AND ENDED IN APRIL OF THE SAME YEAR. THE GHETTO WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY LEVELED DURING THE UPRISING. THE SURVIVORS WERE EITHER KILLED ON THE SPOT OR DEPORTED TO THE DEATH CAMPS.




Artist Statement

My art evokes images of my life and time. These sculptures are recreated using artifacts accumulated over many years, which were found in discarded piles of junk. The refuse of the 19th and 20th century technology. These items are incorporated into my art allowing viewers another perspective and the objects another life. The art is always figurative in image, sometimes whimsical, depicting humor where there was none, sometimes social commentary, or brutal in portraying horrific events that occurred in the world. The art becomes a vehicle to encapsulate a slice of history and give it a second form.

Initially in my career, the artwork was constructed using recognizable elements but reassembled using both welding and miscellaneous fastening methods. This proved to be challenging to say the least. Not only were the parts difficult to attach they were also prone to breaking when stressed. Over the years I have adapted my assembly to suit the materials and the attachment methods.

As an Architectural designer, I have built many models of buildings using wood as the key component. It was only natural that I would gravitate to the use of wood elements to construct the ships and the buildings. The difficulty I have is finding wooden pieces that can scale down to the sculpture size. That is why there are so many broken tables and chairs in the studio. Wood is easier to work with allowing me to make better connections and fix mistakes. Many of the ship models are constructed from ocean tumbled lobster trap wood. The gnarly and discolored pieces are quite beautiful when reused. Chair spindles and turned table legs make great columns when used on model buildings.

Bio
Martin Ulman, a Boston-based artist, is a sculptor who uses found objects as his medium. His work is figurative in nature and the subject matter varies widely.

Ulman is a graduate of the Boston Architectural College, which is where his interest in art, specifically sculpture started. He began painting at first, but when experimenting with some rusted tools it became clear that working with three-dimensional forms is where his passion was.

He has never faltered in his infatuation with junk and the possibilities of transforming it in to works of art. In 2005, his work was featured in 2005 Trashformations East, a juried travelling exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA

In 2012, Ulman had a one-man show at Northeastern University’s Gallery 360, titled Seaships; Airships; Spaceships.

Mr. Ulman has several pieces in the Steampunk Weapons exhibit that was first shown at the 2014 Springfield Armory and is now at the NRA Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mr. Ulman’s work has been reviewed in the following publications:

West Roxbury Transcript, …”Turning Junk into Art”, Lorraine Emanuel, Boston Globe, “Talking Trash,” Linda Matchan

www.roslindalestudio.com/marty/holocaust.html

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