Archived Exhibits at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery
Colorful Textures: Synaesthesia in Art
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
The Power of Civil Society: the Fate of Jews in Bulgaria
September 1 - October 15, 2012
Rubin-Frankel Gallery is honored to host The Power of Civil Society: the Fate of Jews in Bulgaria, a new exhibit of historically significant and beautiful tapestries which tell the story of how Bulgaria was able to save all of its Jewish citizens during World War II and the Holocaust.
On Thursday, September 27, we are honored to welcome the President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev. He will be speaking at 6pm, followed by a public reception from 7-9pm. The talk is RSVP only, with limited space available. The reception that follows will be free and open to the public and offer refreshments as well as a performance by Bulgarian-Boston Dance Ensemble Ludo Mlado.
The talk has currently reached full capacity, but to be put on the waitlist please contact Holland at 617.353.7634 or rubinfrankelgallery@gmail.com
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
The Wolloch Haggadah: Lithographs of a Modern Day Exodus
April 3 - June 29, 2012
(click here for more photos from the exhibit)
A Haggadah is a collected work of blessings, prayers, and excerpts from the Bible, Mishnah, and Midrash. Commissioned by the Wolloch family, The Wolloch Haggadah is a compilation of 55 hand-printed original lithographs and silkscreens signed by the artists, illustrator David Wander and calligrapher Yonah Weinreb.
These images, taken out of the traditional book format, link the ancient redemption from Egypt to the Holocaust, and honor memories of those who perished during World War II.The exhibit will be open during Passover and on the day of remembrance of the Holocaust, Yom Ha’Shoa. The deeply expressive images illustrate the relatively recent calamity of the Holocaust, juxtaposing the original texts of the Haggadah that articulate Israel’s prior enslavement. Previously, The Wolloch Haggadah collection was featured at Duke University and by New York Times. The collection honors the remembrance of past hardships and evokes thoughts of a hopeful and just future.
About the Haggadah, Richard McBee describes it as “…a tale of transformations shown through a visual translation of the traditional text.Just as the bread of affliction becomes the matzah of freedom, so too, in his images, the tattered yellow star, a badge of shame, becomes the Israeli flag of pride.All of our treasured sons become treasured books.And just as our imperative to remember our Egyptian bondage and the eventual redemption, so too we must remember the horrors and degradation of the Holocaust and see in the creation of the state of Israel its redemption.It is therefore entirely fitting that the title page of theHolocaust Haggadahcontains this quotation from theBaal Shem Tov:‘Forgetfulness leads to exile, while remembrance is the secret of redemption.’”
Event sponsored by Boston University’s Jewish Cultural Endowment and Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
The Metaphorical Body
7th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition
February 1 - March 23, 2012
The story of human life surpasses the constraints of the form in which it is held: in this way the human figure becomes a metaphor.
This is the 7th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, showcasing artwork of current students from around the entire Boston Metro area. Jurors: Harold Reddicliffe, Professor Emeritus at Boston University College of Fine Arts; Emily Corbato, independent artist and Scholar in Residence at the Brandeis Womens Studies Research Program.
Click here for photos from the opening reception
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Faces of Revival:
Postwar Russia in the Art of Felix Lembersky (1913-1970)
A Painting Exhibition
September 1 - December 23, 2011
Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 22, 2011 (6pm - 8:30pm)
Academic Symposium:
Thursday, November 10, 2011 (6pm - 9pm)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
For guided tours or group events, please contact Giang Luc at rubinfrankelgallery@gmail.com
Click here for photos from the opening reception
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
“Israel from Within and from Without”
An International Short Film Exhibition
March 24 – June 30, 2011
The Rubin-Frankel Gallery at Boston University Hillel House announces its very first video installation, featuring a collection of 34 short films by 29 established and emerging artists, addressing the diversity and complexity of Israeli culture. In so doing, "Israel From Within and From Without" seeks to encourage further dialog regarding the social, political, and cultural issues that currently confront Israel, both from within and from without.
Curators:
Rinat Harel, artist and independent curator
Stuart Steck, professor at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.
Holland Dieringer, Gallery Director, Rubin-Frankel Gallery
Sponsored by The Jewish Cultural Endowment at Boston University, The Consulate General of Israel, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and The Boston University Hillel.
If you would like to bring this exhibit to your venue, please contact Holland Dieringer, Gallery Director, at 617-353-7634.
 |
 |
 |
2 minute trailer |
20 minute introduction |
Exhibit catalog |
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition: "A Private Glimpse "
a selection of student works
January 20, 2011 - March 11, 2011
Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 3, 2011. 6-8pm.
Although a gallery usually shows the finished product of an artist's work, the process is not always appreciated or sough out. However, the finished product would not exist without the progression and development of concepts, emotions, materials and methods into that "thing." To understand art we must excavate through the physical to find the abstract, conceptual and intangible.
To promote the value of the artist's process, the Rubin-Frankel Gallery at Boston University's Hillel will be exhibiting sketches and unfinished studies which focus on the visualization of the artist's thought process and how the artist sees or goes about trying to see something.
Juried by:
Emily Corbato, artist and resident scholar at Brandeis University
Harold Reddicliffe, Associate Professor of Art at Boston University
Stuart Steck, Assistant Professor of Art History and Critical Studies at Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
"Thirteen Under Thirty"
a selection of works by Boston’s emerging artists
December 2, 2010 - December 23, 2010
Opening Reception:
Thursday, December 2, 2010, 6-8pm
Artists
Autumn Ahn
Andrea Bergart
Leslie Condon
Holland Dieringer
Emily Garfield
Daniel Harris
Emily Manning-Mingle
elizabeth menges
Courtney Moy
Kristie O'Donnell
Bevan Weissman
Ilyn Wong
Ben Zawalich
Curated by The Young Guns
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Traces of Memory: A contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland
from the permanent collection at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland
September 6, 2010 - November 12, 2010
Gallery Talk and Book Signing : Thursday, November 3rd
with Guest Speaker and co-author of the exhibit Jonathan Webber.
Traces of Memory: A Contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland, a modern look at the Jewish past in Poland through the eyes of British photographer Chris Schwarz. For the first time, Traces of Memory is on view and touring in the United States. The exhibit opened first in March of 2010 at New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage before coming to Boston’s Rubin-Frankel Gallery, located in the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Visual Midrash: Text As Form
Paintings by Artist-In-Residence Harriet Finck
March 15 - June 30, 2010
Visual Midrash: Text As Form is an exploration of the interpretations of Hebrew text in three parts: An exhibit of works on paper, an on-site installation — done in the gallery for the weeks leading up to the opening — and a series of teaching workshops free and open to the public.
Harriet Finck
The impulse for Harriet Finck’s recent works digs deep into the bones of her childhood and explores the meaning behind a series of Hebrew texts learned long ago.
In “Visual Midrash: Text As Form,” the theme of text and writing develops abstractly and with a particular, though sometimes hidden, emphasis on the letters themselves. In some works, the Hebrew words themselves are the subject. They are written directly on the paper, usually repeatedly, as a visual exploration of their meaning.
In others, a fragment of text is used as a starter – like yeast in dough. The work grows from it, and in the process the text itself is often buried. Letter-like forms vary in size, texture and color, with bundles of tiny shapes thread their way across and beyond fields of color and shape, large and amorphous. Painting text in this way saturates it with verbal as well as visual meaning and readability no longer matters. As the scale of her work grows, many pieces embrace the tradition of ancient iconographic painting: stories are told through a combination of images and text, using both the diptych and triptych format. These are stories about birth and death, angels and dreams, despair and redemption.
The Artist-in-Residence Program, newly established at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery, provides artists the opportunity to be in residence at Boston University while working on a significant artistic project in the field of Jewish Studies and to produce an exhibit for the Rubin-Frankel Gallery. The program, sponsored by Boston University’s Jewish Cultural Endowment, also provides for artist-led workshops, free and open to the public.
Photographs from the installation, opening and exhibit
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition: "The Realization of Dreams"
January 28, 2010 - March 5, 2010
Opening Reception and Award Ceremony: Thursday, January 28th, 6pm-9pm
Boston, Mass., January 28, 2010- Boston University Hillel House and The Rubin-Frankel Gallery hosted the opening reception for the 5th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition The Realization of Dreams, whose theme pays tribute to artist Marc Chagall.
The hope for the impossible, the unthinkable to occur was given through Marc Chagall’s depiction of fantasy and reality merging together. While his themes changed with each new chapter in his life, his captivating and imaginary style remained constant; his colors vibrant.
In honor of the upcoming 25th anniversary of Marc Chagall’s death this spring, the Rubin-Frankel Gallery at Boston University’s Hillel will behosting its fifth Annual Student Art Exhibition. A call for artists was made--open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the Boston Metro area--to illuminate their personal fairy tales, inner dreams harmonized with perceived realities, to create their perfect world. To draw from personal experience: physical surroundings, social interaction, emotions, and thoughts, to vividly unveil one’s imagination. To find a simple theme in a complex image that will save humanity, elicit pure happiness or illuminate the truth.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Absolution of the Wind: photographs by Emily Corbató
July 28, 2009 - December 21, 2009
Artist Talk and Reception: Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
The Rubin-Frankel Gallery is honored to feature the work of photographer Emily Corbató in the solo exhibition entitled "Absolution of the Wind." The exhibit includes photographs from:
ocean scapes
cloud series ("in the beginning...")
tree series ("absolution of the wind...")
branches mirrored on the water's surface ("reflections")
These four portfolios, united through their title theme, were taken on Plum Island, MA, where Corbató maintains her studio and was first inspired to become a photographer. Earlier images are presented along with two new (2009) portfolios shown here for the first time.
view press release here
___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4th Annual Student Arts Exhibition: Sustain/Ability
March 18, 2009 - June 27, 2009
Opening Reception and Celebrations: March 18, 2009
(description)
1. An aesthetic exploration of sustainability.
2. The potential of art and new modes of art practice to emphasize the link between environmental concerns and social relationships.
Read BU Today's article about this exhibit: The Fine Art of Being Green
WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain process or state. The term is frequently used in connection with biological, ecological and human systems that lead to productivity in the future. The idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres. The issue of human preservation has developed great concern in our society. This situation has influenced a movement to identify and promote ways of making public appreciation of nature, life and our surroundings more relevant. http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/
"Urban Sprawl" by Sally Shaldun
"Lonely Tree" by Amy Lithimane
"Kingdoms" by Anny Oberlink
"You Think What You See " by Yuying Zhang
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
A Story of Rose's : prints by Larry Volk
January 19, 2009 - February 27, 2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Artist Talk: Monday, January 26, 2009
This exhibit, consisting of a series of collages that combine photographs, writing, official papers and documents, incorporates a loose narrative depicting the life of Larry Volk's late mother Rosette Volk, a Holocaust survivor. For more information on the series, please visit the website below.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Poets/Portaits : Works by Zvi Lachman
October 27, 2008 - January 5, 2009
Opening Reception: November 3, 2008
Perhaps the characteristic most central to the definition of poetry is its unwillingness to be defined, labeled, or nailed down. An imaginative awareness of experience, poetry uses language to evoke an emotional response; it’s very nature as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.
|
 |
“What is a portrait? A human and spiritual identity imprinted upon a face. A presence whose existence cannot be reduced to its tactile contours. More than any other object, it is the portrait that compelsme to question this ‘presence.’ With every portrait I draw, I learn how to see. Each portrait is not only an object of observation- it also looks at me. What is this gaze, who is this eye that is not mine…”
- Zvi Lachman
Twenty years ago, Zvi Lachman began drawing the faces of poets—those who are with us and those who no longer are. Lachman contends with the philosophical question of human presence and of its ever-changing nature. This body of work, while calling attention to the relations between poetry and art, aims to redefine the meaning of the portrait.
Catalogues available for purchase upon request.
Holland Dieringer, Gallery Coordinator, Rubin-Frankel Gallery
Reba Wulkan, Curator of Contemporary Exhibitions, Yeshiva University Museum
Ayelet Danielle Aldouby, Curator and Exhibit Coordinator
Sponsored in part by the Jewish Cultural Endowment, the Adelson Gallery of New York, the Israeli Consulate of Boston, and Boston University Hillel.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
The Wolloch Haggadah: A Unique Celebration of History and Memory
April 17, 2008 - August 8, 2008
Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 : 6:30-8:30pm
The Haggadah is the Jewish book of ritual read at the Passover seder to tell the story of the miraculous biblical events of the Exodus from Egypt. Commissioned by Zygfryd B. and Helene Wolloch in memory of their parents, this edition of the Haggadah juxtaposes some of the themes of the Exodus story with aspects of the Holocaust. |
 |
The artists, illustrator David Wander and calligrapher Yonah Weinreb, find especial commonality with slavery, violence, and redemption. Wander depicts crematoria, burning books, and the start of David interspersed in the traditional Hebrew text of the Haggadah. He also includes beautiful borders, flowers, and the Israeli flag to symbolize the coming freedom of the Jewish people.
The drawings contain no human figures, signifying the absence of those who perished during the Holocaust.
This hand-printed portfolio of lithographs consists of fifty-five prints signed and numbered by the artist, thirty-six of which are on display, and can be read in order from right to left. Simple, yet direct, the imagery resonates with beauty and truth in its efforts to emphasize connection.
Gift of Helene Wolloch and Andrea Eisinger Leeds (CAS'72) and family to Boston University Hillel's permanent collection. Sponsored by the Jewish Cultural Endowment at Boston University.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3rd Annual Student Art Exhibition - "Contemporary Absurdity"
Artists may point to absurdities within the world, exposing the daily incongruities and hypocrisies we encounter as twenty-first century citizens, or they may generate their own worlds—theatrical, fantastical, abstract—that celebrate a newfound absurdity. Whether cynical or sincere, disconsolate or light-hearted, artists engage with the absurd to cope with the contemporary.
| Opening Reception: |
| Thursday, March 6, 2008 |
| 5:00-7:30pm |
| Rubin-Frankel Gallery, 2nd Floor Hillel House (213 Bay State Road) |
Click here for the poster.
| Jurors: |
| Lynne E. Cooney: |
| Coordinator of Exhibitions and Special Projects at Boston University's Department of Fine Arts. |
| Emily A. Corbato: |
| Photographer, pianist, and Resident Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. |
| Deborah A. Cornell: |
| Printmaker and Professor at Boston University Department of Fine Arts. |
| Harold Reddicliffe: |
| Painter and Associate Professor at Boston University’s Department of Fine Arts. |
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Scattered Among the Nations: Jews of Color: In Color
January 30, 2008 - March, 2008
Opening Reception: January 30, 2008, 7-9:30pm
 |
Click here to watch a slideshow about the exhibit.
This exhibition challenges stereotypes of the Jewish people, portraying five communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America whose populations share the outward appearance and lifestyles of the people who surround them, with one major difference: they are practicing Jews. To compliment these photographs, the Pucker Gallery of Boston has generously loaned Central and Western African pottery from its collection.
Kindly join us for the opening reception and program series, celebrating our global Jewish communities.
| Gallery Tour with Photojournalist Jay Sand |
| Friday, February 1, 2008 |
| 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
| African-Themed Dinner, Followed by a Talk "My Spiritual Journet with Jewis of Africa" with Jay Sand |
| Friday, February 1, 2008 |
| 7:00pm |
| Join Grammy nominated ethnomusicologist Rabbi Jeffrey Summit as he explores the music and culture of the Abayudaya (Jewish people) of Uganda |
| Wednesday, February 13, 2008 |
| 7:000pm |
| Presentation with writer/photographer Bryan Schwartz, President of Scattered Among The Nations |
| Sunday, February 24, 2007 |
| 1:30-4:30pm |
"For thousands of years since successive waves of invaders chased the Israelites from their ancestral home, Jews have carried their religion with them wherever they have gone. Living in the Diaspora, Jews maintained their way of life, gathering in communities to share their traditions. Others were touched by the faith of the Jews scattered among them, or by the words of the Torah, and bound their lives to this enduring heritage. There are scarcely more than thirteen million Jews in the world today; most of them live in established Jewish centers like Israel and large cities in North America and Western Europe. But what many do not know is that there are Jewish communities in Africa, Asia, South America, even parts of Europe and the Former Soviet Union, in which the Jewish populations do not have white skin or do not live fast-paced, modern lives. Some of these communities exist in places so geographically and culturally distant from other Jews that they must struggle daily to maintain the religion of their ancestors.
Scattered Among the Nations is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the Jewish and non-Jewish world about the beauty and diversity of our people. We assist geographically and politically isolated Jewish or Judaism-practicing communities to continue embracing the Jewish religion and culture, while documenting these communities as they are today before they disappear through immigration or assimilation."
Sponsored by The Jewish Cultural Endowment, the Pucker Gallery, and Boston University Hillel.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
| Eve Garrison: Life Study- 70 Years of Figurative Painting |
| August 29, 2007 - January 4, 2008 |
| Opening Reception: Monday, November 12, 2007 |
| lecture with John Corbett, founder of Corbett vs Dempsey Gallery, Chicago |
Garrison was a practicing artist for over 70 years and during her lifetime created a body of work dizzying in its range of materials and resources and expansive in its stylistic exploration. But at the core of this voracious experimentalist was a deep fascination with the human figure. Garrison attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied in an atmosphere steeped in life drawing and observational art. She quickly gained acclaim after graduating in 1930 and won a gold medal for figure painting at the Corcoran in 1933 and garnering a one-person show at the Denver Art Museum the following year. Garrison was later an easel painter for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), completing urban landscapes for various schools and institutions.
In the '30s and early '40s, Garrison was considered one of the leading figurative realists in Chicago, but by the time of U.S. involvement in WWII, she began to feel hemmed in by realism and actively experimented with other ways of approaching the figure. It was in 1949, however, that Garrison's most decisive and important development occurred. In that year she began using assemblage – quite early in the history of American collage – to create what she called "sculptured oils." In these, her most ferociously original works, Garrison built an infrastructure of found and distressed materials and painting atop this craggy support in oil. But Garrison's work also has a light and playful air at times, offsetting any penetrating glances at the abyss.
| Click here to watch a slideshow and hear commentary of the Eve Garrison Exhibit featured in "BU Today" |
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
words within
April 12, 2007 - June 29, 2007
An annual juried exhibition put on by Jewish Women Artists’ Network (JWAN), a special interest group within the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA). This exhibit is traveling from the Columbia/Barnard University Kraft Center for Jewish Life in New York, NY.
Words have long played an important role for us as People of the Book. The words of Torah, liturgy and other sacred texts have guided the Jewish people toward living ethically, responsibly, and compassionately. Words of poetry and song have expressed the thoughtful and spiritual search for meaning. words within serves as a catalyst for bringing new insight and expression of Jewish themes and traditions by combining the spoken, read or thought word with visual expression.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Inside Terrorism: The X-Ray Project
March 18, 2007 - March 30, 2007
Reception and Dinner: Sunday, March 18, 2007, 7pm
Inside Terrorism is a photography exhibit created by artist Diane Covert which uses actual X-rays and CT-scans from the two largest hospitals in Jerusalem to explore the most important social issue of our time: the effects of terrorism on a civilian population.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2nd Annual Student Exhibition: “the power of the diminutive”
January 19, 2007 - March 11, 2007
Opening Reception/Award Ceremony: January 25, 2007, 7-9:30pm
The Rubin-Frankel Gallery, located on the second floor of the Hillel House at Boston University, celebrates the power of the diminutive in its 2nd Annual Student Art Exhibition on Thursday, January 25th. Two of Boston University’s own professors, Harold Reddicliffe and Jennifer Caine, both of the College of Fine Arts, sat on the panel that selected the winning submissions. The panel also included Peter Hoss, an adjunct faculty member of the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley, and Fay Grajower, a mixed-media artists and one of the founders of the Hyde Park Open Studios.
The call for submissions reached beyond Boston University and responses came in from all over the city. Participating schools included The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art, and Art Institute of Boston.
What is the power of the diminutive? Often, the minute parts which create our existence are not only beautiful but over-looked and, at times, it is difficult to keep in mind that the whole is only as sound as the quality of its sums. Although the literal sizes of the submissions were not restricted, they remain linked with the concept of the unexpected impact of the small. Students, undergraduate and graduate alike, submitted their visual interpretations of what small means to them in their lives. 25 pieces were selected for this intimate show, ranging from oil paintings and drawings to mixed media installations.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Women of Valor
October 12, 2006 – January 6, 2007
This exhibition of graphic art features eighteen trailblazing Jewish women who bring to life stories from Jewish women's history. Women of Valor recognizes and highlights the lives and accomplishments of these remarkable Jewish women, each of whom had the courage and conviction to overcome social, cultural, and religious barriers to achieve their goals. Each has left a meaningful contribution that has improved our world.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Sarah Horowitz: Works on Paper
June 12, 2006 – October 3, 2006
Opening Reception/Artist Talk: Thursday, September 14, 2006, 7pm-9:30pm
A rigorously trained printmaker and devout drawer, Sarah Horowitz crafts work that is informed by her passionate interest in botany. The etchings presented in Works on Paper explore the nuances of organic form, poetry, and memory.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
1st Annual Student Art Show
April 14, 2006 - June 5, 2006
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Carved Memories: Heritage in Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale
Photography of David Goverman
March 16, 2006 – April 13, 2006
Prints can now be viewed at the Harvard University Library Archives.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Tamar Messer
January 23, 2006 - February 29, 2006
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Zion Ozeri
October 2005