Gersht's works tend to be mute about their charged inspirations. It's more gut wrenching if, for example, you know Evaders is about the German-Jewish intellectual Walter Benjamin's 1940 flight from the Nazis, which ended when Spanish authorities halted him and he reputedly committed suicide. The Forest was filmed near the Ukrainian village where Gersht's father-in-law hid from Nazis.
Most MFA vistors will probably not have the kind of personal history with violence that Gersht has had. So they may not recognize that behind its subtle beauty his best work vibrates with post-traumatic stress, with the sense that even in this quiet, peaceful museum, everything could suddenly go to hell. And what could anyone do about it?
Read Greg Cook's blog at gregcookland.com/journal.
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