Exhibitions 2008

Exhibitions Archive

Ruth Weisberg: Guido Cagnacci and the Resonant Image
October 17, 2008
March 2, 2009

Pasadena, CA—The Norton Simon Museum presents Ruth Weisberg: Guido Cagnacci and the Resonant Image, an exhibition featuring Los Angeles artist Ruth Weisberg's new series inspired by Guido Cagnacci's powerful Martha Rebuking Mary for Her Vanity (after 1660), one of the Norton Simon Museum's most important Baroque paintings. This exhibition features more than 20 new works by Weisberg in which she explores Cagnacci's themes of transcendence, spiritual yearning, judgment and empathy.

 

“I am interested in emulating art of other epochs with which I feel affinity, and without apology,” says Ruth Weisberg. Weisberg's appreciation for the history of art is a particularly intimate one, as seen through the lens of her own experience as a painter-printmaker. Implicit in Weisberg's work is the assertion that contemporary art is not separable from the art of earlier periods. She says: “Art history becomes part of the imaginative life of the artist; we are in what I call a ‘dialogue' with the past.”

Read the full press release from Norton Simon Museum

 
Sephardi and Mizrachi Arts: Identity and Heritage in Transition
September 25, 2008
September 25, 2008

August 25 – December 22, 2008
Including works by

Joyce Dallal • Lidia Shaddow • Jessica Shokrian • Victor Raphael

Artists' Reception

Thursday, September 25, 2008
6:00-9:00 p.m.

HEBREW UNION COLLEGE - JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
3077 University Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Parking entrance on Hoover Street, between 30th and 32nd Streets

Also on view is The Jewish Graphic Novel, curated by Laura Kruger, HUC-JIR/New York Museum

(213) 765-2106
Small Works and Short Films
September 20, 2008
October 26, 2008

Sam Erenberg @ ATSPACEGALLERY

2202 N. Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706

(714) 835-3730
hello@atspacegallery.com

ATSPACEGALLERY.COM
EMPHASIS SANTA MONICA Opens at New SMC Gallery
September 13, 2008
September 13, 2008

Opening Reception 6 - 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 at SMC's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery, located at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street, Santa Monica - "Emphasis Santa Monica," is an art exhibit displaying the incredible talents of 49 Santa Monica artists, ranging from John Baldessari to Frank Gehry and includes five member artists of JAI: show curator Bruria Finkel, Sam Erenberg, Elena Siff, Tony Berlant and Kathryn Jacobi.

Bruce Smith, SMC public information officer, 310-434-4209

NOTE: The press reception was held in August. This is the public
artists' reception opening.
Great News for JAI Members and Friends
July 30, 2008

Dear JAI Members and Friends,

I am immensely pleased to report that the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has awarded a 2008 Cutting Edge Grant of $250,000 to the Jewish Artists Initiative for The Quest for Transformational Jewish Art, over a period of three years.

This generous grant will fund an expanded dialogue between Jewish artists from Los Angeles and Tel Aviv as well as create opportunities for selected artists from each city to become artists-in-residence. While the program is designed between artists from these two cities, it will reach many segments of the community through its activities, and partnerships with religious and ecumenical organizations.

These ambitious plans will mean new outreach programming and additional infrastructure. We will add a staff member and a small office which will greatly enhance our efficacy in everything we do. We will be collaborating with the Los Angeles/Tel Aviv Partnership for several of the exciting initiatives that are part of this grant.

There are various additional papers to sign and a ‘Grantee Evaluation and Marketing Workshop' that Victor Raphael, Donna Stein and I will attend on behalf of the JAI. Please watch for a notice for a general meeting in early August as we want to share the details of the grant and get your feedback as we put the plans in place.

I want to thank the Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation for their belief in the importance of Jewish art and artists and I am especially grateful to Amelia Xann for her encouragement and excellent advice through the years. Several members contributed their astute suggestions to Donna Stein and to me during the grant writing process. We certainly could not have done this without Donna Stein's excellent grant writing skills.

So a Mazel Tov all around. I'll look forward to seeing you in August.

Ruth

Ruth Weisberg, Dean
USC Roski School of Fine Arts
Los Angeles, California 90089-0292
Tel: 213-740-6267
Fax: 213-740-8938
reweisb@usc.edu
 
Ruth Weisberg Unfurled
May 3, 2008
July 15, 2008

An exhibition presenting three decades of work by Los Angeles artist Ruth Weisberg (b. 1942), Dean of the Roski School of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California, will be on view at the Skirball Cultural Center from May 8 through July 29, 2007. The retrospective centers on The Scroll, a 94-foot-long mixed-media drawing, which will be exhibited for the first time in 20 years. Considered by critics to be Weisberg's most significant and challenging body of work, The Scroll will be featured in the context of more than 30 paintings, drawings and prints that explore related issues.

Among the highlighted themes of the exhibition are: Weisberg's life story and its convergence with art history and Jewish memory; the parallels she draws between contemporary life and the Bible; her desire to provide an identity to those who perished in the Holocaust; and her fervent belief in the possibility of new beginnings. Weisberg will appear in conversation with Nancy Berman, art historian and Skirball Museum Director Emerita, on Thursday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m.; attendees to this public talk will have an opportunity to view the exhibition in advance of the May 8 public opening.

Related Programs

In addition to docent-led and curatorial walkthroughs of the exhibition, several public programs are planned in conjunction with Ruth Weisberg Unfurled.

• Thursday, May 3: Ruth Weisberg in conversation with Nancy Berman, art historian and Skiball Museum Director Emerita.

 • Wednesdays, May 9–June 6: A four-session continuing education course, The Journey from Jerusalem to America: Exploring the Pilgrimage Holidays. Instructor: Dr. Shai Cherry.

 • Tuesday, June 19: The Changing Roles of Women in Religion, a panel discussion focusing on recent developments in Judaism, Catholicism and Islam, featuring Rabbi Laura Geller, Dr. Zayn Kassam and Dr. Jane Via.

 • Friday, June 29: An exhibition tour led by Weisberg and a visit to her studio.

 • Sunday, July 15: Multicultural Rites of Passage: A Bus Tour, led by Norine Dresser.