DIA Art Classes for Young People
Quiet Determination
It's not abstract, not exactly realism — but without a doubt,
Julie Chaleff-Feingold's work is passionate.
FRANK PROVENZANO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
For a schedule of classes and a
registration form, please call the
DIA Education Department at
(313) 833-4249.
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n the first days of September,
the early autumn fills The Art
Leaders Gallery in West
Bloomfield. Lightly in the back-
ground, the stereo plays a stream
of popular songs from the past few
decades. Hits that bring a smile,
they could be called. The fusion of
brilliant natural light and music
come together on the recently
hung Picasso-esque paintings.
But they're not Picassos.
From the bold colors and en-
gaging graphic patterns to
the strong lines, the paint-
ings also have a striking
resemblance to the work
of artist Peter Max.
But forget it, they're not
Maxes.
The gallery's carnival of
visual pleasure comes
from the soft and roman-
tic brush strokes of Julie
Chaleff-Feingold.
Although far way from
her Boca Raton home and
studio, she found a certain
poetry surrounded by her
art, while the air filled
with pleasant melodies. "I
kind of think my paintings
sing," she said.
Actually, Ms. Chaleff-
Feingold's style fits into
the school of "representa-
tional modernism." Cer-
tainly not abstract, but
clearly not exactly realism.
The absence of shading
and fragmented facial fea-
tures offer a collage effect.
And the countenance is
strictly post-modern: dis-
tracted, cool, yet resonating with
passion.
"(Her) work has been corn-
pared to Picasso and Matisse, but
obviously Peter Max has had
quite an influence on her with her
use of bright, bold colors and im-
ages," said Bonnie Mansour, own-
er of the gallery.
Coming from a recent show in
Chicago, Ms. Chaleff-Feingold
and her husband appeared at Art
Leaders in early September for
the opening of the show, which
runs to the end of the month. Just
hours after her paintings were
hung, she moved through the
gallery with an ease and self-as-
suredness atypical of most artists.
It's not that she's totally com-
fortable with displaying her art
in public. Like most artists, the
vulnerability in "laying yourself
out there" is just beyond the sur-
face. But clearly, Ms. Chaleff-
Feingold wouldn't want to be
Above: Julie Chaleff-Feingold:
"I kind of think my paintings sing."
Left: Venetian Geometty,1993.
Thursday, Sept, 21
Townsend Hotel
100 Townsend St,
preview: 6:30 auction: 7:30
so
anyplace else. She's waited too
long to come this far.
With the increasing populari-
ty of her work, she has certainly
arrived. Two years ago, she not
only entered the prestigious Co-
conut Grove Art Show in Miami
but was chosen to design the
show's commemorative T-shirt.
The shirt sold a record number
of copies. And last year, Ms. Chal-
eff-Feingold was selected to de-
sign the billboard promotion for
the art festival, considered by
some to be the top juried show in
the nation.
Until the breakthrough at Co-
conut Grove, the road hadn't been
easy, nor direct.
Ms. Chaleff-Feingold, a self-
taught artist, has spent years de-