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July 22, 2005
Granirer worth seeing
Documentary on the artist airs July 31 on Bravo.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Pnina Granirer has had a long and distinguished career as an artist.
People can meet her and get a brief glimpse of her life's work on
Bravo later this month, when the station airs Pnina Granirer:
Portrait of an Artist for the second time this year.
The half-hour documentary touches upon the highlights of Granirer's
life in art. We are shown the actual landscapes that inspired several
of her works, as well as the dancers who helped Granirer with her
innovative Dancers Suite series that features life-sized drawings
of dancing bodies on clear mylar.
Granirer describes her art as the expression of dualities: the angel-devil
in the Magic Childhood series and nature-culture in the Stone series,
for example. In the film, she speaks of trying to integrate such
dichotomies in her works, which often contain elements of other
cultures – First Nations in one series – and the use of
mixed media.
Her art is perhaps a reflection of her own life, which Granirer
says is a "history of dislocation." She was born in Romania,
educated in Israel, lived in the United States and then moved to
Canada in 1965. She compares her life to diamond that has been cut,
each side reflecting a different part of it.
In addition to Granirer, interviewed for the film are Ron Hatch,
Ronsdale Press publisher of Ted Lindberg's book Pnina Granirer:
Portrait of an Artist; Gretchen Jordan-Bastow, who produced
a film based on Granirer's The Trials of Eve series; actor/director
Joy Coghill; Dr. Shirley Thompson, former director of the Canada
Council; artist, writer, curator and arts activist Ed Varney; and
dancer and choreographer Cori Caulfield. Each of these people adds
a comment regarding either the contribution of Granirer to the arts
world or an interpretation of her work.
For those unfamiliar with Granirer's art, the film is a wonderful
introduction. For those who have seen a few of her exhibits, it
will enhance their understanding of the artist and what motivates
her. Her enthusiasm is contagious, as she discusses life after an
exhibition, when things return to "normal" and she gets
to return to the studio and create new images: "the newness
of each image, it thrills me," she says. Hopefully this means
that Granirer will be creating new art for another five decades,
at least.
Portrait of an Artist is on Bravo Sunday, July 31, 5 p.m.
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