Arts & Entertainment

Face To Face

Portrait exhibit by Barbara Keidan
features big, bright, bold impressions.

SUZANNE CHESSLER

Special to the Jewish News

others see something deeper. I'm in
love with character as shown through
facial lines and wrinkles."
In another portrait, simply titled
"Stressed," the color green, in combi-
nation with wrinkles and circles under
the eyes, could be interpreted to
demonstrate the effects of tension,
according to Keidan. The image is
punctuated by frizzed hair that appears
frenetic.
On a more positive note, "Scarlet
Letter" shows a face that is strong and
confident, emphasized with coffee-
color shadings and a plain hairdo that
surrounds the head like a halo. Instead
of standing for "adultery," as in
Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, the scar-
let letter in the painting could stand
for terms that describe a modern
woman — adventurous, adorable or
admirable.
Keidan, whose earlier paintings of
plants and landscapes hang on walls of

arbara Keidan includes a self-
portrait in her exhibit at the
Lansing Art Gallery, but she
says it was not intended to capture her
essence. Titled "Stressed Angel,
Yearning to Be Devil," the painting,
she explains, was done in fun and for
the amusement of viewers. It is bright-
ened with segments of red to color the
face and horns and segments of gold
to tint the halo and wings.
The image originally was juried into
40 X 40 (Forty by For ty ), an exhibit of
artists' self-portraits recently shown at
the Gem Theatre in Detroit. Perhaps,
with brush in hand, this serious artist
instinctively revealed a side of herself
that may not be immediately apparent
— her sense of humor.
"Stressed Angel, Yearning to Be
Devil" is among 25 of her portraits in
the show Faces that runs at
the Lansing gallery
throughout June. The
painting is representative
of a recent style that inter-
prets personality through
blocks of bold colors.
Although the faces general-
ly are realistic in shapes
and features, the colors
give the images abstract
qualities.
"Most of these faces
were done over the past
three years," says Keidan,
77, who works out of a
recreation-room-turned-
studio in her Beverly Hills
home. "They were drawn
from life with large, heavy
design markers and then
completed with flat
acrylics. Although the
show is tided Faces, I'm
really interested in convey-
ing what's behind those
faces.
"I use very few flesh
tones because I think other
colors, particularly wild
\\A
colors, make each face
Scarlet Letter
more interesting and let

IN

6/ 9

2005

52

businesses and homes
throughout the area, had
been known for her use of
watercolors. When she
decided to convey personali-
ties rather than flowers and
outdoor scenes, the artist
decided to use acrylics
because they were stronger,
brighter and more dramatic.
"I'm very tall, and I like
painting large," says Keidan,
who connected with models
Stressed
through the Birmingham
Bloomfield Art Center. "I
think larger is just more excit-
ing."

Early Influences

Keidan's interest in art can be traced
back to her early childhood, when her
mother liked to take her to galleries.
While showing her abilities as a stu-
dent at Hampton Elementary School
in Detroit, the young artist was rec-
ommended for placement into a work-
shop program at the Detroit Institute
of Arts. For a time, in high school and
college, she focused on cartoons.
During studies at the College of
Architecture and Design at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
Keidan began her intense interest in
watercolors. She found that they made
her work quickly and freely.
Keidan, whose husband was the late.
attorney Herbert Keidan, stopped
painting after getting married and did-
n't return to it until her three children
were all in school. After earning bach-
elor's and master's degrees in art from
Wayne State University in Detroit, she
returned to her work.
"I began placing my paintings
through galleries and art consultants,"
says Keidan, whose images have been
displayed at Henry Ford Hospital in
Detroit and the Hyatt Regency Hotel
and AAA International headquarters,
both in Dearborn. "I like to work in
the morning when I'm awake and
ready to go. I also have taught private
students in their homes."
Keidan has been part of group
exhibits at the Detroit Institute of

Arts, Detroit Artists Market,
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Art
Museum, Evans Gallery in Toronto,
Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph and the
Michigan State Fair in Detroit.
Although she has not depicted
specifically Jewish subjects in her
paintings, she has been presented with
the Jewish Women in the Arts Award
and has been active in Jewish organi-
zations, including divisions of ORT,
Hadassah, American Society for
Technion and the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Her family has
belonged to both Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and Temple Beth El.
Keidan gets her exercise by swim-
ming in a nearby pool every day.
"I have juried shows so I am very
pleased that professors from Michigan
State University juried my work into
this show," Keidan says. "The invita-
tion to do this exhibit came after I had
juried a show at the gallery. There was
a call for artists to enter studies, and I
answered it.
"I'm also pleased that groups of my
friends are planning trips to see the
exhibit. They're looking for people
with vans and arranging car pools." ❑

Faces runs through June 30 at the
Lansing Art Gallery, 113 S.
Washington Square, Lansing.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tuesdays-Fridays and 1-4 p.m.
Saturdays and the first Sunday of
each month. (517) 374-6400.