Exhibitions

March 1 - April 7, 2010

Slutzky Art Gallery, Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County

1 Federation Way, Suite 200 Irvine, CA 92603

Opening Reception: Sunday, March 2 - 5 p.m.

I grew up as a laborer for my family in the Los Angeles apparel industry. This seems to be the thread that flows through the story in my work. Materials from the garment manufacturing trade and what I consider genetic dreams have all crept into my art to create a type of personal redemption.

In recent years, I have been using pattern shapes to create Hebrew texts as a way of connecting to a source of returning home. I scrape together what bits of knowledge and memory I have of my roots and cultural heritage, as I missed out on some of this as a child and my childhood in general because of having to work at such a young age. For this reason, I tend to revisit childhood and childlike ideals and try to transform these severed connections into visionary works of art.

Lately I have been obsessed with my Mitochondrial DNA inheritance (the female line of my genealogy), and believe there is a genetic calling to my faith which is intertwined with my personality, my curiosity, my duty, sense of humor, tenacity, etc. I actually believe my crazy, female ancestors prop me up and guide me towards what is right and true. At times, they guide my hand in art, and sit with me in silent moments. There is also a meditation that takes place in the repetitive motions of cutting patterns, sewing, and marking garments in the manufacturing trade that is not dissimilar to prayer. I use these same techniques in my art making to this day and it brings me closer to my family, and in many ways, closer to G-d.

For more about the artist visit: www.esart.com

Macrocosms & New Topographies

Gary Frederick Brown • David Jang • Diane Silver • Christine Weir

February 27 - April 2, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 27, 6-9 pm

Glendale Public Library, Associates of Brand Library, 1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale, CA 91201

818-548-2051

www.BrandLibrary.org

Tue/Thu 12 – 8 pm; Wed 12 – 6 pm; Fri/Sat 10 am – 5 pm

George Billis Gallery LA

2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90034

T: 310-838-3685

F: 310-838-3438

www.georgebillis.com

Between Washington & Venice on S. La Cienega Blvd. in the Culver City art district.

Transcending History, organized by the Idea Coalition, will feature the works of over 30 Black and Jewish artists from around the country.  Works shown will reflect upon Slavery and the Holocaust, and the effects that these events have had on the two communities.

Works by Yona Verwer and five other Jewish Art Salon members will be on exhibition

Opening Thursday, February 4, 6-9 p.m.

Vivant Art Collection

60 N. 2nd Street / Gallery Row, Philadelphia, PA

Tel: 215.922.6584

February 4th till February 27th

Hours: Thursday - Saturday: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., Sun - Wed: By Chance/Appointments

http://www.ideaarts.org

Yona Verwer describes her painting ”Star Amulet”:

“Star of David”, in the Hebrew language “Magen David”, means literally “Shield of David”. The term refers directly to God, who shielded the Biblical David fighting Saul. Over time it became accepted as the universal symbol of the Jewish people. A Star of David, often yellow-colored, was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust as a method of identifying Jews.

My amulet painting’s main purpose is to counter-balance the Nazi badge and to ward off evil, and as such should be viewed as an instrument of empowerment. The metal chain echoes concentration camps’ fences.

BODY AND SOUL, an exhibition of paintings by Kathryn Jacobi, Margaret Lazzari, and Galya Pillin Tarmu will be on view at American Jewish University’s Platt and Borstein Galleries from January 31, 2010 through April 28, 2010.  The public is invited to meet the artists at a free opening reception on Sunday, January 31st from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Curated by Elizabeth Bloom and Annette Bird

Kathryn Jacobi, inspired by the painters of the Northern Renaissance, describes herself as a contemporary realist artist.  Her powerful work is an expression of her relationship to the inhabitants of her world.

Margaret Lazzari, art faculty member at University of Southern California, often uses an autobiographical source in her drawings and paintings.  She finds that her self portraits lead toward understanding and self discovery.

Galya Pillin Tarmu, born and educated in Chicago, spent many years in Israel. Her paintings reflect a world that has undergone estrangement, where sometimes the grotesque plays an essential role. Through metaphor the figures reveal her pre-occupation with the human condition.

American Jewish University is located at 15600 Mulholland adjacent to the 405 Freeway, in the Sepulveda Art Corridor near the Skirball CulturalCenter. The galleries are handicapped accessible and parking is free.

For further information call 310-476-9777 ext. 201

ArtScene Review - the Guide to Art Galleries and Museums in Southern California

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion/LA 

3077 University Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90007

January 18 - May 31, 2010 

Artist’s Reception: Sunday, March 14, 3:30-5 pm (FREE) 

Opening Remarks: 4:00 pm 

RSVP: 213.765.2106 or dsauerwald@huc.edu

The Jewish Artists Initiative (JAI) and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion/Los Angeles are pleased to present “Ruth Weisberg: Drawings from The Open Door Haggadah”. In 2002, Weisberg and editor Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell collaborated on The Open Door Haggadah, published by the Central Conference of America Rabbis. Weisberg’s drawings explore both the Exodus from Egypt as well as modern day celebrations of the holiday. Sixteen drawings and monotypes as well as the Haggadah itself will be on view at Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion/ Los Angeles from January 19th till May 31st, 2010. 

Weisberg’s drawings present the traditional Jewish narrative as well as highlight a feminist perspective of Passover. The work will be displayed side by side with accompanying texts from The Open Door Haggadah. Through this work, Weisberg fulfills the Judaic value of hiddur mitzvah, the beautification of the commandment. 

January 10 - March 6, 2010

Reception for the artist:

Sunday January 10, 3 - 5 pm

Traywick Contemporary

895 Colusa Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94707

Thursday - Saturday, 10 - 4, by appointment

510-527-1214 

Traywick Contemporary is pleased to announce an exhibition of works on paper by Los Angeles based artist Stas Orlovski. This will be Orlovksi's third solo show with Traywick Contemporary.

Stas Orlovski's Nocturnes are unique explorations of the subtleties of consciousness. Drawing on Russian folklore, children's books, Persian miniatures, 18th and 19th century illustrations and botanical prints, his pieces are fantastical gatherings of natural and cultural remnants. Orlovski arranges his collage compositions on Japanese papers applied to stretched canvas, a medium that allows him to "pull images out of the surface much like recovering a memory, or waking from a dream." He integrates seemingly disparate imagery and combines artistic mediums, ranging from charcoal drawings to newspaper clippings, to create pieces that are at once unfamiliar and alluring. Shadowy birds, delicate botanical drawings, and sculptural fragments are nestled within thoughtful accumulations of images that invite the viewer into private realms of being.

Stas Orlovski earned a BFA from York University in Toronto in 1992 before earning an MFA from the University of Southern California in 1996. Orlovski's work is featured in prominent private and public collections including the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Phoenix Art Museum, the University of Southern California and the American Embassy in Brussels. In 2008 Orlovski was honored with a City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Grant, which he has used toward the development of the Nocturne series.

View images from the exhibition

More information available at www.traywick.com.

LA ARTCORE Union Center for the Arts

January 2 - 31, 2010

Artist Reception on the 10th, 3-5 p.m.

A 50 year retrospective of paintings, drawings and prints from many of the artist's series in her portfolio. And includes new work never exhibited before.

120 Judge John Aiso Street   Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 617-3274

Hours: Wed. - Sun./12 - 5 p.m.

Bakersfield Museum of Art

December 10, 2009 - February 21, 2010

Hobos to Street People: Artists' Responses to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present

...is a traveling exhibit featuring the works of 30 artists working over the last 75 years to document the tragedy of homelessness.  Through painting, printmaking, photography, and mixed media, Depression-era and contemporary artists offer glimpses of life on the street and show many similarities between the eras.

Exhibit curator Art Hazelwood says that "some of the artists in this exhibition personally experienced homelessness and poverty, some worked directly with organizations to combat poverty, but all of them felt that art could be used to focus attention on homelessness. The idea that art can have a function in society by engaging in a struggle for a better world, and that everyone should take an interest in the well-being of less fortunate people are the twin beliefs of the artists in this show."

The exhibitions illustrate artistic interpretations of homelessness during a 75 year span from the Dust Bowl migrants of the 1930s to the street people of today with emphasis on California. The art and artists illuminate displacement both in noble and negative images.

No Place to Go: Paintings of the Homeless by Pat Berger is a compilation by the Los Angeles artist who spent over five years in the 1980s on skid row in Los Angeles, making a statement through paintings to bring attention to the issue of homelessness.

The exhibits open with a reception on December 10 at 6 p.m.

Bakersfield Museum of Art   1930 R Street    Bakersfield, CA 93301    (661) 323-7219

Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm; Saturday-Sunday 12-4pm; closed Monday and holidays

Admission: Members - Free, Adults - $5.00, Seniors (65+) - $4.00, Students - $2.00

Every third Friday of the month, all admission FREE!

Every second Sunday of the month, all seniors (65 and up) admission FREE!

USC Hillel Art Gallery

presents

URBAN MYTHS:

USC Student Tribute 

to

Susie Gesundheit

Opening Event: Thursday, November 19, 2009  Reception 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.  

Remarks by Dean Ruth Weisberg, 5:00 p.m.

USC Hillel Gallery • 3300 S. Hoover St. • Los Angeles  

More information: Lee Rosenblum, (213) 973-1204 or email