Basking Ridge Rabbi Transforms Jewish Icons into Pop Art

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A Hasidic rabbi would seem to share little in common with flamboyant pop artist Andy Warhol. But Yitzchok Moully, a rabbi at the Chabad Jewish Center in Basking Ridge, makes pop art with a Hasidic twist.

A selection of Moully’s works go on display Sunday, Feb. 1, at ArtisZen, an artist’s collective gallery in Lambertville. “When Black and White Become Color” will be celebrated with a Kosher wine and cheese reception at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.

“The reception will be a lot of fun,” Moully said. “Another rabbi — Choni Teitelbaum — will be coming to play guitar.”

Moully’s life and art are a study in contrasts. He was raised in a rigorously orthodox Hasidic community by former hippy parents. His rabbinical studies did not include art classes, yet he sought a means of expression for his artistic compulsion.

“I’d been a photographer a long time,” Moully explains. “One night on the Web I discovered silk-screening and started investigating it on my own. Through trial and error I learned how to do it.”

Moully began transforming his photographs into pop art silkscreens. A rabbinical gathering, Hasidic dancers, dreidels and other Jewish icons became vibrant, boldly colored images. In his basement studio, Moully makes “black and white become color.”

The exhibit at ArtisZen features 20 of Moully’s Hasidic pop art silkscreens, which he issues in limited editions of 50. The pieces are from the last five years and range from an oversized 4-by-6-foot image to an intimate 18-inch square. Moully has been involved with the gallery for the past two years, and commends it as “a lively, colorful, very inviting place.”

The 30-year-old Moully balances his art with the demands of being a married father of three and the youth rabbi at the Chabad Jewish Center.

“It’s interesting being a Rabbi and artist,” said Moully, “forming a harmony between fine art and the sacred art of rabbinics.”