In October 1949, Jonas Mekas arrived in New York City broke and nearly broken.
The Lithuanian artist had survived a Nazi work camp and several years as a refugee, and was supposed to travel on to Chicago where a job in a bakery awaited. But the buzz of New York City energized him and so he stayed. Thus began a prolific career in which Mekas explored time and place.
This incessant exploration is at the core of the Jewish Museum’s newest exhibit “Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running.” It’s the first time an American museum has featured a survey of the filmmaker, poet and critic who helped shape the avant-garde in New York City and beyond.
The post He survived a Nazi work camp to shape the world of modern film first appeared on World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust & Descendants.