Left: "Reality Studded
with Thorns Hides the
Front Door from the
Street," pre-printed
steel, from the series
"The Deceiver and the
Deceived" This piece
exemplifies how women
are portrayed in our
consumer society.
Opposite page and below:
"Square Yard of Grass,"
pre-printed steel,
copper base.
/-
/-
and mugs, where art itself becomes a
commodity to sell," she says.
One issue concerning Berman is
the reproduction of artists' works on
cookie tins: "Are we supposed to buy
the cookies because they taste good,"
she asks, "or because we have good
taste choosing cookies in a Manet
cookie tin?"
Berman also is showing three mir-
rors. Made out of tin cans instead of
glass, they are meant to point out our
imperfections. "The tin cans are all
tarnished, like our self-esteem, which
can be tarnished looking in the mir-
ror, notes Berman.
Her brand-new series depicts grass,
and each piece of grass is individually
cut and placed in a slot in a base.
Dramatic and environmental, the
works examine issues of suburban life,
including the chemicals placed on
grass to keep it green, which potential-
ly endanger the groundwater.
In 1998, Berman put her toe into
new waters — Judaica — after being
asked by the Jewish Museum in San
Francisco to enter a kiddush cup invi-
tational.
Excited, she had an idea.
"I remembered the blue and white
Jewish National Fund pushke boxes
from my youth," recalls Berman, who
is married and has two children of her
own. "I called up my father, who still
lives in Harrisburg, and who gets me a
lot of my materials, and I told him of
my idea. He has a large network of
Jewish friends, and he's very involved
in the Jewish community" Within 10
days, he sent her a package with 14 old
metal pushke boxes, out of which she
created a dramatic seder kiddush cup.
"I was making a kiddush cup out of
mundane, ordinary materials," she
says. "But people have a lot of positive
recollections of those blue and white
pushkes from their childhoods, so it
touched a lot of heartstrings."
Last year, she fashioned a spice box
made from pushke boxes and other
blue and white tin materials for the
Philip and Sylvia Spertus Judaica Prize
Competition at the Spertus Museum
in Chicago. Of the 180 spice boxes
entered, hers was one of the 25 chosen
for display in the show.
Because she is known for putting
meaning into every piece she makes,
Berman says she enjoys that "people
are coming to the Judaica, seeking
some meaning from the pieces. I
know they are appreciating the art and
the meaning," she says. fl
PAUL AND JIMMY
PANAGOPOULOS
OF THE NEW AND OLD
PARTHENON IN
DOWNTOWN DETROIT
AND LEO STASSINOPOULOS
ARE BRINGING THE
FINEST AUTHENTIC GREEK
CUISINE TO OAKLAND
COUNTY
5' TA
ex.sideeowe.,,,
IJ
RA NT
,
Harriete Estel Berman's one-
woman show runs at Sybaris
Gallery, 202 East Third St., in
Royal Oak, March 13-April 24.
The opening reception is 5-7
p.m. Saturday, March 13, at the
gallery. (248) 544-3388.
•
f4
TIC GREEK CMS'
,
7 DAYS A
;
Wit
4301 ORCHARD LA RD.
LOCATED AT CROSSWIP LAZA
WIEST B LO 'OE LD
CO E OF ORCHARD .
Si.Lattj INE
••,