The Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery has partnered with the Washington DCJCC's Screening Room, Nextbook, and The National Museum of Crime and Punishment to bring you a series of incredible American Jewish gangster programming! 

The exhibition: Real Machers

Inspired by the accidental art of vintage mug shots and the charm of a colorful character, Pat Hamou's own crime of passion has been the history of the Jewish Gangster. As in much of Jewish lore, the era was nomadic; it left a fascinating, yet dark, blemish on the early Twentieth Century Jewish-American experience, and the raison d'être a sociopathic reflection of its time.

Pat Hamou, featured in Heeb magazine (Summer 2008) is an illustrator and graphic artist currently living in Montreal, Canada. Using archival images as a springboard, he creates intricate, colorful and textured pen and ink drawings that reflect a bygone era and brings new life to them. Almost 50 works by Hamou will be displayed in the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, with another five works in a "teaser" exhibition at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Gallery Place.

The book talk

During the opening reception for the exhibition, at 7:30 pm on February 18, Nextbook hosts Ron Arons as he speaks on his new book: The Jews of Sing Sing: Gotham, Gangsters, and Gonuvim. You can read about the event or purchase tickets online.

The film screening

LANSKY (1999, staring Richard Dreyfuss) will be shown in our theater on Monday, February 23 at 7:30 pm. With a script from David Mamet, the life of the legendary mob manipulator is told in a a series of flashbacks. In a parallel version of the American Dream, Lansky, a young Jewish immigrant, graduated from back-alley gambling to bootlegging to becoming the criminal genius behind organized crime. Click here to purchase tickets online.