O

The Road
From Rio

Bloomfield Hills artist Bertha Cohen
couples Brazilian roots with
expressionist sensibilities.

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News

B

ertha Cohen's portrait paint-
ings do not capture actual
persons; they capture person-
alities.
Her work has evolved during a long
career, which has included many exhi-
bitions both in this country and over-
seas. The portraits represent only one
of many directions she has taken.
"The portrait series has been preoc-
cupying me for the last three years so I
feel I'm ready to share this with the
public," said the artist, whose series and
other works are on display through
Nov. 6 at the Creative Arts Center in
Pontiac.
"The people are totally created in
my head. Maybe they are subconscious
models, but I don't have people specifi-
cally in mind.
"I think they are expressions of the
human condition. If I distort the nose,
swish the mouth or open an eye, the
character will change.
Beyond the faces that communicate
deep feelings, her Pontiac exhibit,
"Memory and Transformation,"
includes landscape abstractions as well.
"Memories, through the veils of
time, filter sights, sensations and -
impressions into an idealized state,
where fact and fantasy, dreams and
reality become one," said the artist,
who thinks of herself as an expression-
ist but not necessarily in the abstract
sense.
"When I say expressionism, I mean
feelings and emotions more than a ref-
erence to realism. It's a perception of
so-called reality transformed and then
put down on canvas or paper using

"

Suzanne Chessler writes about the

arts.

reinterpreted feelings and sensations."
Cohen traces her sense of aesthetics
to her parents, who moved from
Poland to Brazil to raise their family.
They surrounded her with cultural
experiences and helped develop her
commitment to the arts.
A graduate of the University of Rio
de Janeiro, she was an elementary
school teacher in her native country,
where her father
was a professional
photographer. After
she and her hus-
band, Alberto, a
cardiologist, decid-
ed to move to the
United States, she
took up painting
through classes at
Wayne State
University.
"As soon as my
three daughters
[Annabel Cohen,
Deborah Stein,
Miriam Disner]
were in school, I
started studying
seriously," she
recalled. "The fact
that I was away
from members of my family forced me
into stretching my potential.
"When I entered a student competi-
tion and won a prize, people I respect-
ed very much said I should pursue
painting."
Taking that advice, she found a stu-
dio in Pontiac and has worked there for
20 years.
"It's a place of contemplation where
hopefully the phone will not be an
interruption," said Cohen, who is most
productive in the morning. "To me,
the solitude means a commitment.
Once I'm there in front of a canvas,

Top: Bertha Cohen:
Woman In Blue
Dress, Watercolors
on paper.

Middle left: Bertha
Cohen: Woman in
Winter, Watercolors
on paper.

Middle right: Bertha Cohen: Capturing
personalities.

Bottom: Bertha Cohen: Woman in
Black Hat II, Watercolors on paper.

something happens, and
the time is very precious."
Cohen, whose paintings
hang in many public col-
lections including those
at the Bloomfield Hills
Public Library and
William Beaumont
Hospital, has dedicated
her talents to more than
one series at a time,
allowing a current mood
to influence her brush
strokes. Although she has
not painted religious
themes, she believes there
are traditional ethnic ref-
erences.
"There's a European
feeling in the faces," said
Cohen, who is a member
of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek and supports the
Israel Cancer Society. "It's
probably Jewish because
the Europeans I know are
Jewish."
A member of the
Michigan Watercolor
Society Detroit Society of
Women Painters and
Sculptors and the Michigan
Hispanic Cultural Art Association,
she has received awards from many
local and distant arts organizations,
including the Northport Galleries
in Ne'W York and the Prix de
Peinture du Centenaire de
Raymond, Duncan, in France.
With close ties to the Latin com-
munity, she was invited to partici-
pate in the "Carton de Venezuela"
with Las Artistas
Graficas Pan-
Americanas, "Latin
American Artists" in
Germany and
"Three Latin Artists"
at the Saginaw
Museum.
"My goal in
painting is to please
people," said Cohen,
who conducts art
workshops. "I hope
that my paintings
can move and
inspire them." ❑

VA. ”

Bertha Cohen's
exhibit, "Memory
and Trans-
formation," runs through Nov. 6 at
the Creative Arts Center, 47
Williams Street, Pontiac. For infor-
mation, call (248) 333-7849.

10/31

1997

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