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SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

aseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg always
seemed larger than life to American Jews,
who cheered his sports prowess and personal
charisma while revering his openness about
religious observation. Soon, his image will be larger
than life — about 25 percent larger — as a stainless steel
replica of this home-run hitter takes its place at the new
Tiger play field, Comerica Park.
Baseball fans visiting the about-to-open stadium will
see the realistic sculpture of Greenberg side-by-side with
the likenesses of the four other Tiger Hall of Famers — Ty
Cobb, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser and Al Kaline.
The statues were planned for the Walk of Fame, the open-
air gallery beyond leftfield, which showcases 'Tiger history
dramatized by the five statues that seem to be in motion.
Last year, the site was visited by the two sculptors
heading up the statue project, Julie Rotblatt-Amrany and
Omri Amrany, a wife-husband artistic team who met
while studying in Italy, lived for a time in Israel and now
make their home in Highland Park, Ill.
The 40-something artists, who also take on projects
independent of each other, were selected for these statues
because of a similar sculpture they did of basketball great
Michael Jordan, whose image in The Spirit stands in front
of the United Center in Chicago. The Amranys will be in
Detroit for the statue dedication on April 5, when there will
be a benefit for the Atanaf flitch Osteosarcoma Foundation.
"The players are in full action, and there's a sense of
abstraction along with the high realism," says Rotblatt-
Amrany, who worked most closely on the Greenberg
replica. "Detail — which you might not see a lot of today
—`is a very important element.
"In one sense, we're going back in time to the [realism of
the] Renaissance period,-but at the same time we're incor-
porating futuristic style by repetition of movement as you
would see in a photograph that's blurred. There's a sense of
movement of a hand several times through space or a swish
of energy to go along with the force of hitting a ball."

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3/31
2000

86

Julie Rotblatt-Amrany, seated,
and Omri Arniany in their studio
with a bust off-lank Greenberg.

COMERICA PARK

on page 88