Ballet dancers part of artwork

CASSANDRA SAVAGE

I saw Dirty Dancing for the first time in 1987 and felt an immediate, deep connection with Jennifer Grey's character, Baby. I longed to step into her fictional life and, whenever I heard the film's signature ballad on the radio, I let my Grade 6 imagination run wild: Patrick Swayze was my feather-haired boyfriend and the song was actually about me, I secretly thought to myself. I was taking dance lessons at the time and I worked a little harder on my pirouettes that week.

Dance has a long history of moving people to create more, love harder and enjoy the moment. Pnina Granirer reminded me of this when she recalled seeing a 1940s British dance film. It was decades ago and Granirer was living in Israel: "I was about 17 and I went with a friend to see The Red Shoes, a very old film. It was about an hour's walk home and I remember I was so inspired by the film, I danced all the way home!"

Vancouver-based artist Granirer still has dance on her mind today. Her exhibit, Synchronicity, opened at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery on Feb. 24 and the gallery has rarely felt so dynamic. On opening night, guests moved in and out of Mylar hangings, causing the malleable, polyester film to shift and swing in the air; a tiny six-seat theatre screened a film about Granirer's life and work; and a dancer moved through the gallery to live guitar. Inspired by five years of photographing Ballet British Columbia performers, Granirer's show is an entertaining multimedia presentation of painted Mylar, monoprints on Plexiglas, documentary film, paintings, dance and music. Granirer herself is excited for the viewers coming to the show.

"I think they are going to see something they haven't seen before and it will somehow rejuvenate the idea of art in a certain space," Granirer told the Bulletin. "Visual art is essentially a static form of art but I think in this space it doesn't look so static."

Granirer studied graphics at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem, where she learned how to draw, and established her roots as a figurative artist. Granirer recently discovered that one of her teachers at the academy had previously taught renowned painter Marc Chagall but the teacher kept his impressive connection under wraps. Granirer's work has since been exhibited around the world and published in a book by Ted Lindberg, Pnina Granirer: Portrait of an Artist (Ronsdale Press, 1998). Last month, Granirer's story was aired on Bravo! in a new film by Mehdi Ali, also called Pnina Granirer: Portrait of an Artist.

What struck me about Synchronicity was its cohesiveness. Each of its various elements work together to create an overall experience. Combined, the wall-mounted art, the video screening and the guests moving through the floating Mylar felt like a kind of theme party to which I was cordially invited. The exhibit also had a cool factor I didn't expect to see: Granirer is more than twice my age and she's got more than twice the creative energy. She's not afraid to include a retro electric fan, a television and a handsome guitarist in her show, leaving her guests with no shortage of things to see and do. I loved the monoprints on curved Plexiglas and the use of light, which made them glow like aquariums.

But with every silver lining, there is a tiny cloud. In a series of mixed media pieces entitled "Worship," Granirer portrays groups of people with their hands in the air, worshipping an actual CD. The real CDs mounted on the artwork make otherwise beautiful pieces look cheap and dated. I had to find out why she put them there.

"The idea is that technology has become so important in our lives that it has become the new God and people worship it," Granirer explained. "It has become an integral part of life."

I wholeheartedly agree. But I can't help thinking there must be a better way to depict technology in a timeless, more interesting way. On a conceptual level, a CD is an object too specific to represent the immensity of technology and how it has affected our world. Nor does a CD represent the furthest reaches of digital technology today. It's like gluing an 8-track to a perfectly wonderful work of 1960s art; it suggests specific media technologies and invites a rude giggle or two from youth in the crowd. I saw the Worship series as a glitch in an otherwise wonderful overall show, at which youth were represented in larger numbers than usual for the gallery.

Granirer's exhibit continues at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver until March 9. Check www.jccgv.com for live presentation times.

Cassandra Savage is a Vancouver freelance writer.

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