ZOE LEONARD
TALKS WITH
LYNNE COOKE
ABOUT
CEILA STOJKA
Free, RSVP required
TALKS WITH
LYNNE COOKE
ABOUT
CEILA STOJKA
Free, RSVP required
Monday,
June 1, 2026
6:30pm
Doors
7pm
Event begins
Limited capacity
June 1, 2026
6:30pm
Doors
7pm
Event begins
Limited capacity
Lynne Cooke has been sharing images of the work of Roma artist, writer, activist, and Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka (1933–2013) with me for several years, but I was still completely unprepared for the full presence and power of the work experienced in person. Stojka draws and paints scenes of horrifying cruelty and suffering, sometimes mapping out places, activities, facts of life in Nazi camps; other works are allegorical in nature; and others communicate states of mind and being beyond depiction, surreal dreamscapes of transformation. Yet, there is also a thematic throughline of the beauty and regenerative power of nature: the joy of a physical experience of life is palpable. Her work pointedly warns us, shakes us, reminds us of the dangers and consequences of fascism, totalitarianism and nationalism.
I am thrilled to speak with Lynne about how she came to Stojka’s work, her process of researching and curating the show Ceija Stojka: Making Visible at The Drawing Center, which lands with extraordinary urgency and enormous power, and how this exhibition fits into her trajectory of interests as a curator. Beyond the narrative of her life, and the historic importance of the work as a record of the Romani holocaust, this exhibition gives us Ceija Stojka as an artist. Further,Beyond that, w we will consider what it means to show this work right now in the United States, at this particular moment in American history, and in relation to Stojka’s well-known quote:
“I’m afraid that Europe is forgetting its past, and that Auschwitz is only sleeping.”
— Zoe Leonard
Ceija Stojka: Making Visible, curated by Lynne Cooke, with Noelig Le Roux, is on view at The Drawing Center until June 7th.
“I’m afraid that Europe is forgetting its past, and that Auschwitz is only sleeping.”
— Zoe Leonard
Ceija Stojka: Making Visible, curated by Lynne Cooke, with Noelig Le Roux, is on view at The Drawing Center until June 7th.
Ceija Stojka
Untitled (Ravensbrück, Bergen-Belsen, Auschwitz, Dachau, Mauthausen), 22.01.2006
Acrylic on cardboard
25 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches (65.0 x 50.0 cm)
Private collection, courtesy of Galerie Christophe Gaillard
Photo: © Rebecca Fanuele, image courtesy of Galerie Christophe Gaillard
© 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Bildrecht, Vienna
Zoe Leonard (b. 1961) is an artist working in photography, sculpture, and installation. Her recent exhibition Al río / To the River toured from 2022 to 2025 at Mudam Luxembourg, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, and The Chinati Foundation, Marfa. The Whitney Museum and LA MoCA presented a survey exhibition of her work in 2018. She lives in New York.
Lynne Cooke is a curator and writer. She has served as Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (2014–2026), as Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain (2008–2012), and as Curator at the Dia Art Foundation in New York City (1991–2008). She has organized major exhibitions with Rosemarie Trockel, Blinky Palermo, Richard Serra, James Castle, and Zoe Leonard, among many others. Major exhibitions include Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction (2023) and Outliers and American Vanguard Art (2018). She lives in New York.
Lynne Cooke is a curator and writer. She has served as Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (2014–2026), as Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain (2008–2012), and as Curator at the Dia Art Foundation in New York City (1991–2008). She has organized major exhibitions with Rosemarie Trockel, Blinky Palermo, Richard Serra, James Castle, and Zoe Leonard, among many others. Major exhibitions include Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction (2023) and Outliers and American Vanguard Art (2018). She lives in New York.
Ceija Stojka (1933–2013) was an Austrian-Romani painter, author, and activist. Deported at the age of ten, she survived three concentration camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen. In the 1980s, she began to draw on her childhood experiences, initially though the publication of a memoir and poems, and subsequently through paintings and drawings. Her work has been included in major exhibitions in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Due to the age and character of the building, the space is not optimized for ADA accessibility and is located up a single flight of 20 stairs with handrails. If you have questions about access, please contact us in advance of the event, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
