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22/5/2004

Greta Schreyer and Felix Reisner

Yeshiva University Museum, New York

Longing for the sacred: destroyed Synagogues
Paintings and stained glass models of destroyed polish and russian Synagogues

An exhibition of paintings and stained glass models of synagogues destroyed in the Holocaust, by two European-born artists, Greta Schreyer and Felix Reisner.

An opening reception will be held on Sunday, May 23 from 3-5pm

At the outset of World War II, landscape painter Greta Schreyer fled her home in Vienna. Settling in New York City, she attempted to paint her new surroundings. But the trauma of losing both of her parents in concentration camps provoked her instead to begin painting scenes from memory of the Austrian countryside, where she and her mother had once felt so at home. Critic Regine Schmidt has written in a catalogue essay of Schreyer's work: "Her most authentic paintings...show images of Austria in a dream-like, generalized and idealized kind of landscape vacuum...Nightmarish depictions of empty houses in lonely landscapes under a pale moonlight give us an eerie glimpse into the abyss of [her] soul." In the twelve child-like and mythic oil paintings on view at Yeshiva University Museum, Schreyer recreates from memory images of the Red Forest that hid partisans during the war, as well as six Polish and Russian synagogues that were destroyed.

Five stained glass synagogue models built by Felix Reisner, a self-taught stained glass artist living in Miami, complement the paintings. Born in 1919 in Warsaw, Poland, Reisner spent WWII fighting on the front lines against the Nazis and was granted asylum to come to the United States in 1950. Brought up in the knitting trade, it was only after he retired that Reisner took up making stained glass Tiffany-styled lamps and clocks. One evening, while conveying his emotional reaction to seeing the Great Synagogue in Warsaw in ruins after WWII, his family suggested he rebuild the synagogue in stained glass. On view at Yeshiva University Museum are replicas of five synagogues that were destroyed by the Nazis: Great Synagogue in Warsaw, Stara Synagogue in Lodz, Great Synagogue in Lodz, Great Synagogue of Danzig, and Frankfurt am Main Synagogue in Germany. Reisner's models, built-to-scale, have detailed and lighted interiors.

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Blessings and bridges
An artist' book by Rebecca Singer and Fred Spinowitz

MAY 16 - AUGUST 15 2004

New York, NY (April 20, 2004) - On view at Yeshiva University Museum from May 16 through August 15, 2004, is Blessings and Bridges, a collaborative artists ' book by photographer Rebecca Singer and calligrapher Fred Spinowitz, both artists from Westchester.

An opening reception will be held on Sunday, May 23 from 3-5pm at Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. (between 5th and 6th Aves).

Blessings and Bridges invites the viewer to enter into both an artistic and ritualistic conversation. On 36 facing pages, Spinowitz and Singer-each in their own medium-offer fresh interpretations of 18 traditional Jewish blessings. Spinowitz incorporates calligraphy into imaginative watercolor paintings, while Singer digitally manipulates photographs, integrating the natural environment with the symbolism of the blessings illustrated.

About Fred Spinowitz
New Rochelle artist Fred Spinowitz received a BFA and MS in fine arts from Pratt Institute. He has spent his long career in the visual arts producing paintings, Judaica and ketubbot, calligraphy and illumination. Spinowitz's work marries abstract art with symbols and letters from Jewish tradition, resulting in a unique and personal iconography. For Spinowitz, "art is the way to enter a dialogue with the Divine."

Spinowitz's art can be found in collections in various parts of the U.S. and around the world. Silver menorahs he designed were presented to the late King Hassan of Morocco and the late King Hussein of Jordan, and Ambassador Zalman Shoval received one upon his completion of service as Israel's envoy to the U.S.

About Rebecca Singer
Artist/photographer Rebecca Singer, for many years has been exploring photographic collage with traditional black and white photography, manipulating her images in the dark room. Recently she has begun working in color with the aid of a computer. Many of her works deal with spiritual and religious concepts that praise God.

Originally from Skokie, Illinois, Rebecca Singer began her formal art studies at the Art Institute of Chicago at age 16. She received a degree from the University of Illinois with a major in graphic design and filmmaking. Singer worked as a filmmaker for more than ten years before turning to photography and earning a certificate from the International Center of Photography in New York City. Her photographs, many of which have won awards, have been exhibited previously at Yeshiva University Museum as well as local galleries in and around New York City.

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Museum Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday:11:00AM to 5:00PM.

Yeshiva University Museum
at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St.
(between 5th and 6th Aves).
Telephone 212-294-8330

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