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May 22, 2009
An art showcase of Tel Aviv
City's centennial anniversary is celebrated at Wosk Auditorium.
OLGA LIVSHIN
The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV) is celebrating Tel Aviv's 100th birthday in several ways, including an art show, Tel Aviv@100, which runs from May 15 until May 31 in the centre's Wosk Auditorium. It showcases 12 artists and 20 art pieces, including paintings, photographs and metal art.
Selected by a jury, most of the items in the show depict different aspects of Tel Aviv life: day and night, ancient memories and modern beaches, reality and dreams. Most pieces are fairly new, some created specifically for the show, while others represent a lifelong familiarity and a commitment to the city loved by many Jews.
Kaya Murray, one of the artists, has never been to Tel Aviv, although she has always wanted to go. Her grandmother visited Israel on more than one occasion and often promised to take Murray with her, but the day never materialized. Murray created her painting of the night lights, "All Roads Lead to Tel Aviv," as a city of her dreams, motivated by stories, photos and the memory of her grandmother.
Another night image of Tel Aviv, next to Murray's painting, is Lorne Greenberg's "Tel Aviv, Palm Beach." The un-peopled tables and folded umbrellas of the sleeping café can't detract from the throbbing energy of nocturnal Tel Aviv, punctuated by the glowing outlines of palm trees.
Greenberg is well known to the Jewish community of Vancouver. His stark photographs of the Orthodox Jews of Uman, Ukraine, adorn the curving atrium wall of the JCCGV. Recently returning from his trip to Ethiopia and Israel, the photographer was at first unwilling to enter the current show. Reisa Schneider, the curator, persuaded him to submit one of his pieces. According to the photographer, it is "modern and contemporary – a view of the pulse of Tel Aviv."
The pulse of Tel Aviv in its musical connotations is also reflected in Ranjan Sen's painting "Mischa Maisky in Concert." The famous cellist is playing at the Mann Auditorium and his music flows off the picture on the waves of brilliant white.
The Mediterranean Sea splashes nearby in the two paintings by Sylvia Richman. Hanging one under another, they emphasize two opposite qualities: bright and dark. The top one, triumphant turquoise, is called "Tel Aviv Shores." Its gladness on canvas sparkles with real shells. It "was inspired by my walking on the shore of the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv. I felt so fresh and alive with the colors of the sea and the sky so intense," said the artist. The bottom painting, "Mediterranean Blue," seems like an underwater reflection of the top image, softer and quieter in its midnight-blue palette, defining the depth of the artist's emotions after seeing the Mediterranean for the first time.
Different artists express their love for Tel Aviv in different ways. Irena Shklover's "White Dancing Houses" is whimsical like all the artist's creations. Colors jump at the viewer, inviting one to enter, to smile, to share the joy. Deborah Bohbot's brush paints the sea and the city as a testimony to her gentle affection, while Miran Elbakyan's "Spring Hill" is the sculptor's artistic response to a theatrical performance in Tel Aviv. Jeanne Krabbendam's "Entrance" and her diptych "Sanctuary" echo the artist's fascination with the embedded stories of ruins, columns and gates.
Architectural allusions are also visible in Orly Ashkenazy's "Aim High," an elegant copper engraving of the Azrieli Centre in Tel Aviv from the jeweler's unique perspective. Karine Guyon provides another view of the towers, reverberating the shining skyscrapers of light. Placed high on the wall, her large cityscape screams of pride and glory.
In contrast, Sidi Schaffer's small landscapes whisper tranquillity. Her "Art on the Walls of Old Jaffa" makes you eager to enter the sun-drenched little alley, to partake in its art and its peace. "Like many Israelis ... each visit, we see more beauty, more development and more art in every corner," she said.
Between Schaffer's acrylics hang two black and white photos by Jewish Independent contributor Baila Lazarus. One of the photos, "Jaffa Walk," seems taken in the same alley as Schaffer's painting, only more graphic, expressing the striking contrast between ancient walls and contemporary light bulbs. Lazarus' "Goodbye, Friend" is a snapshot of a wall of graffiti in Hebrew, a memorial to Yitzhak Rabin. Her passionate words about Israel resonate with all of us, like the art in the show: "Israel has always represented dichotomies – older generations who founded the country and younger who keep it vibrant; religious fundamentalism and secular lifestyles; prickly exteriors that belie softer souls; days of violent terror nesting in months of benign chores. Tel Aviv is the embodiment of these dichotomies, welcoming all walks of life with open arms."
Despite the exceptional talents of the participating artists, the show opened without fanfare, without an opening night. An artists reception, planned for May 26, will hopefully bring out lots of people and create more well-deserved excitement about this humbly displayed celebration of Tel Aviv's 100th.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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