{"id":28909,"date":"2018-05-25T03:58:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T10:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=28909"},"modified":"2018-05-24T22:57:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T05:57:22","slug":"zack-displays-art-and-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2018\/05\/25\/zack-displays-art-and-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Zack displays art and music"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRikud\u201d by Givon\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The current exhibit at the Zack Gallery \u2013 the Festival Ha\u2019Rikud group show, called Israeli Music through the Years \u2013 is a fundraiser. Every painting on display has a silent auction sheet beside it, and people can bid on the pieces they like. The bidding closes on June 1, with all the proceeds going to the gallery.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cBabushka\u201d by Carl Rothschild\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opening night on May 15 was a festive affair. Almost all of the 60 participating artists came to mingle and cheer one another on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gallery offered all the artists boards of a universal size to paint on,\u201d explained gallery director Linda Lando. \u201cI sent the boards to the artists about three months ago to give them plenty of time. Every painting in the show is the exact same size, while the selection of the artists is eclectic. Some are professional artists I\u2019ve had on my radar for years. Others are JCC members or their friends who learned about the show and applied. One entire wall of the show is dedicated to paintings created by Louis Brier\u2019s residents attending art lessons. For many, it is their first show. Some never even painted before. It\u2019s very brave of them to put their art out for everyone to see and judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paintings are as different as the artists themselves, although the theme is the same: music in one guise or another. Some artists lean towards Jewish mythology, like Penelope Harris\u2019s mixed media \u201cMiriam and her Sisters.\u201d Three women dance in the painting, all wearing timeless clothing in soft colours.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cLegacy\u201d by Wing Yee Wong\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dancing seems to be a popular subject. In the artist Givon\u2019s painting \u201cRikud,\u201d four stylized women dance, their colours and shapes flowing into one another, while \u201cBabushka,\u201d by Carl Rothschild, dances alone, exuding humour and sharp lines; her balalaika leans on a wall beside the dancer, adding a Russian flavour to the painting.<\/p>\n

Nini Rostoker-Shipman\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Dance\u201d is all about shoes. In the subdued brownish image, a couple dozen pairs of worn shoes \u2013 sandals, slippers and flats \u2013 lie docilely side by side, like a collection. Only one pair of shoes stands out. These are high-heels with sparkly buckles \u2013 real shoes glued to the image. Perhaps some fashionable woman from the artist\u2019s family danced in those shoes long ago? The shoes look impertinent enough to enjoy dancing.<\/p>\n

Other works explore music\u2019s players, the musicians, as well as musical notations or instruments. In this stream, Maggie Farrar\u2019s portrait of Leonard Cohen attracts attention. The showman\u2019s ubiquitous hat sits rakishly on his head, and the names of his famous songs scroll across the canvas.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cSabras Rejoicing\u201d by Marlene Konyves\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below the portrait of Cohen hangs a piece by Wing Yee Wong called \u201cLegacy.\u201d The painting is popular with the auction bidders. It depicts an Abyssinian cat with its disproportionately big ears and haughty eyes, one yellow, another green. The cat is clutching a guitar and staring at viewers with contempt. There is an inscription on the guitar handle, demanding, \u201cFeed me.\u201d It\u2019s hard not to smile while looking at it.<\/p>\n

Musical instruments are also featured in \u201cWhere are the Ladies?\u201d by Marion Eisman. In the mischievous painting, an all-male klezmer ensemble jams a merry tune on a shtetl street.<\/p>\n

Another orchestra, in a piece by Alan Woolf using a pastel palette, is much more serious. These musicians perform a classical concert in the ruins of an ancient amphitheatre. The musicians\u2019 tiny, delicate figures look like pencil sketches on the background of an azure Israeli sky.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cMiriam And Her Sisters\u201d by Penelope Harris\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In contrast, Iza Radinsky\u2019s instruments play by themselves. No people populate her bold painting, just bright colours and ringing notes.<\/p>\n

Bright colours also characterize Marlene Konyves\u2019 \u201cSabras Rejoicing\u201d \u2013 a bunch of gleeful blooming cacti \u2013 and Jocelyne Halle\u2019s collage, which incorporates several of her Israeli photographs. \u201cIt is my first attempt at collage,\u201d said the well-known photographer, who has exhibited her work at the Zack before.<\/p>\n

And then there are abstracts. A rhapsody in green in Claire Cohen\u2019s painting hints at melodic skeins and vague instrumental shapes. Sidi Schaffer\u2019s \u201cEli, Eli,\u201d with its butterflies flitting across the joyful blue ether, is infused with faint sadness \u2013 the title of the painting is the same as the song that inspired it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that song,\u201d said Schaffer. \u201cIt is well known in Israel. It was written by Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian Jew. She immigrated to Palestine and became a paratrooper during the Second World War. She was killed by the Nazis when she was only 23, but her poetry is famous in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is impossible to mention all 60 artists who are participating in this show, but it can be said that all of the work on display demonstrates a love of art and music.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cRikud\u201d by Givon\u00a0(photo by Olga Livshin) The current exhibit at the Zack Gallery \u2013 the Festival Ha\u2019Rikud group show, called Israeli Music through the Years \u2013 is a fundraiser. Every painting on display has a silent auction sheet beside it, and people can bid on the pieces they like. The bidding closes on June 1, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[2466,1153,6691,40],"class_list":["post-28909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art","tag-festival-harikud","tag-painting","tag-zack-gallery"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}