Past Exhibitions

Currents is a gallery space dedicated to recognizing the work of emerging and evolving California artists. Featuring a different artist every two months, Currents presents a range of media, styles, and genres. 

Artist Statement

This body of work began when I moved to a rural ranch in Southern Monterey County, and simultaneously learned that my ancestors spoke Lekoudesch, also known as Jewish Cattle Traders Jargon. My Jewish cattle trader kin immigrated from Germany in the late 1800s, sold beef in San Francisco, and bought a ranch in the Salinas Valley which our family have been farming and ranching consecutively for over 150 years. The family cattle brand started out as a rectangle and evolved to a square, which is still in use to this day.

I am fascinated by Lekoudesch: a secret language of Hebrew origin developed by Jewish cattle traders who were not permitted to own land or participate in many facets of society due to being Jewish. Cattle trading was a popular vocation for rural German Jews from the Middle Ages through 1930, and Lekoudesch was created out of these social circumstances.

About the Artist

Katie Herzog received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Fine Arts from UC San Diego. Her work is held in public and private collections including The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut, and the Tom of Finland Foundation, among others. She is a recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County (2023).

Image: Katie Herzog (b. 1979), Allison's Rodeo Bull (Stripper Dust), 2022, oil on canvas, 61 x 85 in. Courtesy of the artist.