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July 11, 2008
Truth, beauty, peace
Exhibit paid tribute to Jewish women artists.
OLGA LIVSHIN
“Cherchez la femme," say the French. Indeed, women are at the root of everything. The statement was especially true for Faces of Eve, an international exhibition of women in visual arts, which took place in Tel Aviv, at the Bible Museum, in March-April of 2008. From the inception of the show in the fall of 2007 to the cozy report about its success at the L'Chaim Lounge in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on July 3, three Jewish women passed the torch to each other, celebrating the place of women in the arts.
The germ of the idea belonged to Hedwig Brenner, a 90-year-old writer from Haifa who loves art and delights in women's creativity. Without any artistic training or credentials, Brenner was so enthralled by her first encounter with the Mexican-Jewish artist Frida Kahlo that, in 1992, she embarked on a daunting project – to document the biographies of all the Jewish women artists who "made it" in the world. Sixteen years and three volumes later, Brenner conceived a new idea – an international female artists show in Tel Aviv. "I hope this exhibition will be a beginning of new relationships between artists, between peoples, between religions," Brenner wrote in the preface to the exhibition's glossy, 72-page catalogue.
Another woman, an Israeli artist and the curator of the exhibit, Zina Bercovici, picked up Brenner's idea of women in the arts and made it reality with her own drive and enthusiasm. "I wanted the exhibition to reflect the spirit of women art," she wrote in the same catalogue. "This is the link to Women's International Day. I came out with an eclectic collection of techniques, styles and titles. The visitors may notice the women in many situations, like pregnancy, happiness, motherhood, at work, all in soft texture and pastel colors."
Bercovici compiled an impressive list of 64 participating female artists from Israel, the United States, Argentina, Canada, Germany and other countries. Sculpture, paintings and photography were all selected with love and care, introduced to the Israeli public as a triumph of females in the arts.
The third woman, a well-known Vancouver artist and the sole representative of Canada at the Faces of Eve, Pnina Granirer, brought the news about the exhibit to Vancouver. Granirer's presentation and slide show was a fascinating journey through time and space, dedicated to women artists.
Granirer started her narrative with the tale of Brenner, her distant relative and the godmother of the show. Then she segued into her impressions of the vibrant art scene in modern Israel and, from that, to the show itself. Like a silent movie, enlivened by the narrator's exuberant, artistic personality, the colorful imagery of her slides illustrated Granirer's story.
A prolific painter, Granirer was gratified to be invited to the Israeli show. For the first time in 16 years, she visited the land of her youth. "Israel is different now," she said during her presentation. "So many beautiful buildings. I found the architecture experimental and exciting, full of original ideas." Mentioning the astounding, world-class collections of many Tel Aviv museums, Granirer also admired the city's street sculptures. "Art is important for the Israeli people," she said wistfully.
Yad Vashem, the famous Jerusalem memorial of the Holocaust, has one of Granirer's works in their collection. When she asked the curator if it was going to be exhibited any time soon, the curator replied that they have 7,000 pieces of art – too many to exhibit in a lifetime.
Several small private museums in Old Jaffa also attracted Granirer's attention. Her slides showed the unconventional Ilana Goor Museum in a restored 250-year-old building, which exhibits the owner's offbeat collection of sculpture, jewelry, furniture and paintings.
The Rokach House, another Old Jaffa museum, is a unique repository of Lea Majaro-Mintz's prize-winning female sculptures. The artist flaunts her feminist point of view. Whereas a man sees a woman as the source of beauty and sex, Majaro-Mintz sees a woman as a tired, lumpy creature, burdened by the demands of work and family. Leaning towards feminism herself, Granirer felt a kindred spirit in the Israeli artist.
But Granirer's main destination in Israel was the small Bible Museum in Tel Aviv and its Faces of Eve exhibit. Her slides moved among the festive crowd that attended the opening night. They also displayed many wonderful artworks, created by women of different nations but united in their femininity and their quest for truth, beauty and peace. Granirer's contribution to the show was a series of four small paintings – four gesturing hands. Their expressive fingers denoted a universal language, understood by everyone, the language of art.
Granirer's talk was part of the lead-up to the JCCGV's Israel @ 60! exhibit and sale, which will take place in the Zack Gallery Aug. 14 to Sept. 14.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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