Sparks Project - Interesting new Jewish art of a non-musical kind
If the name "Lisa Rose" rings a bell among klezmer aficionados, it is probably because they recall her playing from Sandra Layman's astounding "Little Blackbird" CD released a couple of years ago, containing recordings from 20 years ago.
In the years since, Rose has focused on the visual arts (and more, but this exhibit, and this blurb, are about her art). Her most recent collaboration, with poet Daniel Y. Harris, is on exhibit in Oakland, CA through October. It is exciting and well-worth seeing.
It also reminds me of how much I sometimes miss hanging out at local klezmer concerts together or walking out of the same terrible documentaries as we did on occasion when I lived back in Oakland. The paintings have changed and grown from what I remember from back then. Working with Harris' poetry fuses something that is especially worth contemplating as we approach the High Holidays (secularly, or otherwise). These are images that eschew the tired and renew thinking about who we are in the universe, and what it means to think about "Jewish" in such a universe.
For more information and some digitized samples from the exhibit, see www.realhuman.org
The exhibit runs Sept, Oct 2003, at Temple Sinai, 2808 Summit St, Oakland, California. www.oaklandsinai.org.