Love and horror. A complicated love of Jerusalem and her intense response to a Holocaust memorial infuse the latest collages of artist Florence Weisz.
Though differing from one another in imagery and style, each series is an unfolding response to stones and stone-like structures ? the first, Jerusalem Stone Series, to the ancient stones of Jerusalem's Old City and the second, Berlin Stone Series, to the grid of concrete stelae which compose New York architect Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.
Weisz's innovative compositions seamlessly combine digital photographs with alcohol-based ink textures. At once austere and complex, her collages are as abstract as the emotions they evoke, as detailed and defined as the topics they address.
Stone Series: Jerusalem and Berlin will be exhibited at JCC MetroWest's Gaelen Gallery East, Sunday, November 2 through Monday, December 22. The public is invited to the Opening Reception for the show, 12:00pm 2:00pm, on Sunday, November 2 with celebratory Songs of Jerusalem presented by the Kol Dodi Chorale of MetroWest, at 2:00pm.
Florence Weisz lived in Jerusalem during eight tumultuous years of Middle East history and has continued her strong connection to Israel through long friendships and family ties. In 1995 she created a 193 foot long tile mural in Beer Sheva and last year she exhibited in Jerusalem and at Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'Emek. She was born in New York and maintains a home and studio in South Orange, New Jersey. After earning a degree in Fine Art from Douglass College, Rutgers University, she painted and studied in Paris, worked in New York City and later in Jerusalem, where she taught art to children in special education.
The artwork of Florence Weisz is in numerous collections including The New Jersey State Museum, Citibank, IBM, and The Port of Authority of NY and NJ. Ms. Weisz has created site-specific commissions for private homes as well as corporate and public spaces, including PSE&G, Schering Plough, the Municipality of Beer-Sheva, and Chubb Insurance. Her art has been on exhibition in the US and internationally in one-person and group shows at museums, galleries, and alternative spaces. She is a recipient of a NJ State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award.
Florence can be contacted at 973-762-4833. Her art can be seen at www.florenceweisz.com.
Gallery Hours:
Monday - Thursday 9:00am - 9:00pm; Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm; Saturday
12:00pm - 5:00pm; and Sunday 9:00am - 6:00pm.
For more information, please contact Lisa Suss at 973-530-3413.
Lsuss@jccmetrowest.org.
For directions, http://www.jccmetrowest.org/directions.html or call
973-530-3400.
The Gaelen Gallery East is located at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ 07052.