Arts & Entertainment

About

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Urban Artist

Ben Aronson: Under the El (Chicago), 2003, oil on linen.

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Ben Aronson is one of eight artists participating in
"Urban Landscape,' an exhibition of contemporary
landscape paintings showing at the Lemberg Gallery in
Ferndale through March 10. The Boston painter continues
his ongoing exploration of the elusive balance between
realism and abstraction in his intimate views of cities.
"Fine painting is a selective process. What one chooses
to leave unsaid is every bit as important as what one
includes. So artful painting, I believe, is a distillation of
the visible world with emphasis on certain key elements
that deepen and intensify a particular visual experience,"
says the Boston University graduate, who aims for what
he calls "the decisive and mysterious moment — where
all the elements are in place but land somewhere between
definition on the one hand and suggestion on the other."
Aronson has studied under Philip Guston, James
Weeks and his father, renowned American painter-sculp-
tor David Aronson, a leader in the nationally recognized
Boston Expressionist group of the 1940s-50s and founder
of the Boston University School of Fine Art. The elder
Aronson's monumental narrative works have interpreted
themes from the Talmud and Kaballah. The younger
Aronson also is the son of renowned American portrait
painter Georgianna B. Nyman-Aronson.

The Lemberg Gallery is located at 23241 Woodward
Ave.; gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through
Saturdays or by appointment. (248) 591-6623 or www.
lemberggallery.com .

Defiant Gardens

In his book Defiant Gardens (Trinity University Press;
$34.95), University of Oregon Professor of Landscape
Architecture Kenneth Helphand focuses on the first half of
the 20th century, an era marked by the deadliest wars in
human history. His examination of gardens built by both
combatants and civilians during wartime are what the
author terms "defiant gardens" — gardens cultivated in
extreme environmental, social, political, economic or social
conditions. The book's emphasis on gardening as a source
of hope and resilience suggests a unique way of under-
standing these dark experiences.
Included are gardens built inside and behind the trench-
es of the First World War, gardens built in Warsaw and
similar ghettos under the Nazis during the Second World
War, gardens created by prisoners of war during both world
wars and gardens constructed by internees in the Japanese
American internment camps during World War II.
"Gardens, like other aspects of life that could be con-
sidered 'normal' were all present in the ghetto, but only

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Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

For Anton

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Anton Yelchin,17, is a very cute and
talented young actor. I first noticed
him when he co-starred opposite
Sir Anthony Hopkins in Hearts in
Atlantis. (2001). Then I thought
he was terrific as
Hank Azaria's son in
the recently ended
Showtime series
Huff.
Most recently,
Yelchin starred in
Anton
Alpha Dog, which
Yelchin
is still in some the-
aters. While the film
didn't get great reviews, most crit-
ics singled out Yelchin for praise.
Available biographies say that
Yelchin was born in Russia, came to
the United States in 1989 and that
his parents were top figure skaters

February 15 2007

in the old Soviet Union. His father,
Viktor Yelchin, was Sasha Cohen's
first skating coach, and his mother,
Irina Korina Yelchin, currently cho-
reographs skating routines for top
competitors.
A Los Angeles Times piece from
1989 says that Anton's parents,
both Jewish, were stars of the
Leningrad Ice Ballet for 15 years
and national celebrities. However,
they still faced discrimination;
they both qualified for the 1972
Olympics, but were left off the
Soviet Olympic team because they
were Jews.
In 1989, the couple decided to
give up a comfortable life in the
Soviet Union to seek refugee status
in America. When the Times report-
er asked them why they did so, they
had a one-word answer: "Anton,"
who was then a 6-month-old baby.
The Yelchins were afraid for their
son's future in a country where the

economy frequently goes bad, and
there was and is the threat of politi-
cal and religious persecution.
Opening this summer is Charlie
Bartlett, Anton's biggest film yet.
He has the title role, starring as a
sharp high-school student who has
all the angles figured out. A strong
supporting cast includes Robert
Downey Jr. and the pretty young
Jewish actress Kat Dennings.

Against The Odds

A few weeks ago, Paul Michael
Glaser (Starsky on the hit 1970s
TV series Starsky and Hutch),
addressed a Los Angeles meet-
ing of the Israel Cancer Research
Foundation. The actor, who is now
mostly a TV director, has long been
active in the fight against AIDS, and
he spoke about the need for "cross-
disease" research.
Glaser's late wife, Elizabeth
Meyer Glaser, unknowingly con-

tracted HIV when she was given
a transfusion of infected blood
after giving birth to their daughter,
Ariel, in 1981. Ariel was infected via
breastfeeding and the Glasers' son,
Jake, who was born in 1984, was
infected in the womb. There was
no effective AIDS treatment in the
mid-'80s and Ariel died of AIDS in
1988.
In 1988, Elizabeth founded the
now very famous Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatric AIDS
Foundation. She was a
tireless advocate for
AIDS awareness and
government funding
until her AIDS death
in 1994. Paul Michael
Paul
Glaser served, for a
Michael
time,
as head of the
Glaser
foundation.
A recent magazine article, posted
on Glaser's Web site, says that Jake
Glaser is healthy and off medica-