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“Out of the depths I call You, O Lord. O Lord listen to my cry; let Your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy.” (Psalm 130)

Responding to the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale’s theme, “De Profundis” (Psalm 130), contemporary artist Richard McBee has created a series of six monumental paintings that are inspired by the Binding of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible:

“And God tested Abraham…” (Genesis 22:1-19) commanding him to slaughter his beloved son and eradicate all future generations.

Presented at the Heller Museum as large scale prints of the six oil paintings (each painting measuring 72” x 60”), the series opens in mid-narrative, answering Isaac’s unnerving question: “Where is the lamb?”

McBee’s spare but evocative figuration, his reduced and repetitive palette of blue, yellow, black, and gray, and his flattened and abstracted space propel the viewer directly into decisive moments. He challenges the viewer to confront Abraham’s unbending obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac, the divine intervention in which an angel physically restrains Abraham and the irreparable trauma of abandonment that shatters the father and son relationship forever. In McBee’s series, there is no replacement ram, only the lingering threat of annihilation. An unfathomable God hovers; “For with You is forgiveness, so that you may be feared.” (Psalm 130)

McBee has painted this subject, the “Akeida,” over 100 times in 35 years. He explains, “One thing I have concluded is that, after the Holocaust, we Jews are all ‘Isaac.’  We have faced total annihilation as victims and survivors, most recently on October 7, 2023.  We are all Isaac as the modern world turned its back on Israel. Some of us manage to walk away from the terror, we…at least some of us, can survive the depths. Nonetheless, we find ourselves, after such cruelty, again, alone.”

The thematic call for art for the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale stated, “De Profundis relates to the events of October 7th and the ensuing war, which sent shockwaves through Israel and the world. Like an earthquake, when a gaping hole opens in the earth’s surface, October 7th brought up pain, loss, brokenness, and disappointment, alongside solidarity, growth, and hope, all of which require both coping and processing.”

Yona Verwer, founder of the Jewish Art Salon, who curated this exhibition for the Jerusalem Biennale, states, “The Jewish Art Salon is excited to present Richard McBee’s powerful ‘Akeida Alone’ series at the Jerusalem Biennale and to preview his exhibition at the Heller Museum. In these stark, monumental works, McBee confronts the trauma without redemption, echoing October 7th, and the cry of ‘De Profundis.’ A necessary and unflinching artistic response to our time.”

It is hoped that the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale will be rescheduled in the fall of 2026 and McBee’s exhibition of these paintings will open at the Hechal Shlomo Museum of Jewish Art in Jerusalem.

Heller Museum at 51������
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