Sam Griffin: Aftermath

Since October 7th, the world has experienced the horrific impact of a war that has lasted 18 months, with vivid images of death, displacement, and destruction. Sam Griffin is among Israeli artists of all disciplines who are using art as a way to mirror their experiences, process their memories, and express resilience.

Griffin was born and raised in London and at the age of 20 made aliyah to Israel alone, where he served in the IDF and later studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Called up as a reservist one day after the October 7th attack, he served several months of duty in and around Gaza.

Upon his return home, he faced the daunting challenges of adjusting to normal life. Griffin explains, “After three and a half months of combat in Gaza, I returned home tense and burnt out. The sharp transition between being a soldier and being a father and spouse left me unable to function. I had to restore myself to myself and somehow integrate these various parts within me and with life itself. One of my tools was painting. Entering the studio was my way to process the experience, express and explain everything I’m going through internally and everything I’ve endured externally in reality through a visual language.”

Drawing from the images stored in his memory and his sketchbook and cellphone photos taken on the frontline, Griffin painted unpopulated landscapes and urban scenes in and around Gaza whose unnatural stillness transmits the anxiety and tension of a war zone. The bloodshed and suffering are not depicted but left to the viewer’s imagination.

Through the rapid, impulsive, trembling application and erasure of his paint, Griffin’s technique conveys the psychological and physical intensity of processing remembered fears, as he works toward repair. The disquieting solitude, emptiness, and shadows, illuminated by the sunrise in Egyptian Border, Dawn, or clear blue skies in Khan Yunis I, or military flares in Flare I, transmit the fearful waiting, dread of what is about to happen, and the aftermath.

In Dawn Breaking Near Rafah, the horizontal bands of erased paint, the vertical streaks pouring down the canvas, and the stark light and dark contrasts of pigments capture his artistic and emotional journey from memory toward repair. Soldier is the only figurative wartime work in the exhibition, a faceless soldier whose features are obliterated, evoking the process of concealing or erasing traumatic memories.

Ram Ozeri, founder of the Jerusalem Biennale, who initiated and curated this exhibition, says, “In Israel, everyone is part of the war, either on active duty or anxiously at home. Griffin invites viewers to reflect on the collective trauma, the complexities of war, terror, and loss, and the long and slow transition back to normal life. His process enables him to work toward recovery and repair.”

In recent months, Griffin has turned to painting biblical subjects that reveal his state of mind, including wrestling with the angel in Ya’acov and the Angel and Elijah’s Ascent, which reflects the prophetic, messianic hope for redemption and peace.

Jean Bloch Rosensaft, Director of the Heller Museum, notes, “Griffin’s art, forged in the crisis of war, holds up a mirror to the collective memory of Israeli society and invites the viewer’s engagement with the essential process of healing from trauma. He conveys the ineffable human capacity for resilience and expresses our shared hope for peace and a better future for humankind.”

Griffin’s wartime works were initially presented in a small solo show at the Jerusalem Biennale (March-April 2024), followed by a more comprehensive exhibition, Second Draft, at the Wolfson Museum of Jewish Art in Jerusalem this winter. These works are now on view for the first time in the U.S. at the Heller Museum from April 22 – June 26, and will be shown at the HUC Skirball Museum in Cincinnati, and museums in Omaha, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

This exhibition was initiated by the Jerusalem Biennale in Israel and is presented at the Heller Museum with the generous support of The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund; The Lambert Family Foundation; and the Israel Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel, New York.

Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College in New York
Location: One West Fourth Street, New York City
On View: April 22- June 26, 2025
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Tours/Information: 212-824-2218; hellermuseum@huc.edu
Exhibition Catalog: HUC.edu/samgriffincatalog
Free Heller Museum exhibition audio guide at bloombergconnects.org