They are somewhat shadowy and bright blue. They look frontally, even urgently, at the viewer. Their gaze accompanies visitors through the exhibition “Victim Perspectives,” which is currently on display in the Gasteig on Rosenheimer Straße under the patronage of Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.
The paintings, which are reminiscent of woodcuts, were painted by the artist Monika Mendat, who lives in Friedberg, Bavaria. They alternate with concrete portraits that were created based on original photographs. Mendat wants to remember the millions of children, women and men who were murdered by the National Socialists and give a face to the victims of the Holocaust.
Monika Mendat herself was born near Gdansk and came to Germany from Poland with her parents at the end of the 1970s. Her mother comes from Auschwitz, today’s Oświęcim. Charlotte Knobloch wrote in her greeting that the exhibition was also an appeal to everyone: “Recognize who you are standing in front of and ensure that something like this never happens again.”
Monika Mendat: Victim Perspectives, exhibition at Gasteig, Rosenheimer Str. 5, until November 26th