arts & entertainment
Laboratory For The
Jewish artists' works are among the experimental creations
at the third annual ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids.
Suzanne Chessler
96, displayed at the Grand
Rapids Public Museum.
With the star being noted
ord of ArtPrize 2011, an
as part of the structure of a
exhibit and competition
circuit board, he feels a per-
filling Grand Rapids
sonal connection in having it
Sept. 21-Oct. 9, has reached Israel
included.
with the help of the Internet, and
"Everything I do is
Ofer MizraChi has been preparing
interactive': says Kirsch, 26,
to submit work and travel to the
whose interactive musical
event.
installation Sympathetic
His Peaceful Nature, a signed
Resonance placed among the
photo printed on canvas, will be
works voted into the top 50
shown at Eenhoorn Plaza Towers
in last year's ArtPrize.
and become eligible for the grand
This year's project has 96
prize, $250,000, among 10 mon-
light elements, which view-
etary awards.
ers can activate by moving
In its third year, ArtPrize is
a handle. It uses aluminum,
boosted with the help of public and
plastic and stainless steel
private partnerships, and winners
to enhance the electronic
are chosen by votes of those brows-
components, ultimately pro-
Brenda Oelbaum's entry: Does This Make My
Look Big?
ing through the massive numbers
jecting abstract shapes and
of works completed by artists from
patterns on a wall.
around the world.
"The word 'concentric' has to do with sharing a common center,"
"I found ArtPrize on Google," explains MizraChi, 42, making his
explains the participant from New Jersey.
second visit. "It was very interesting to meet so many artists and
Kirsch's interest in art started with pottery and moved to metal.
people in one place and see so much art:'
He went to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, does some fab-
The print, capturing a flower growing outside Jerusalem, is
rication for other artists and has a longtime commission with the
6-feet-wide by 3-feet-tallit is the actual image without computer
Arts Council of Princeton, which relies on him for a donor recogni-
processing and remains part of a series, the "Near Jerusalem
tion sculpture.
Project:'
Because of his upbeat experience with ArtPrize, Kirsch encour-
"I remember the peaceful moment in the forest and the special
aged one of two artist brothers to take part this year.
connection with nature," says MizraChi, who has worked in various
Glitter Girl, a mosaic of 50,000 plus independently mounted
art forms.
sequins that sparkle when they catch the light, is being shown by
"It seemed very clear to understand the importance of keeping
Jeremy Kirsch, 32, a California graphic designer for Disney stores.
this beauty. It also seemed clear that if nature can live in peace, we
The piece, based on a stock photo, reaches 8 feet in both direc-
can, too:'
tions and will be on view at the B.O.B., a dining center. When seen
Brenda Oelbaum, 50, of Ann Arbor also is in her second year at
from a distance, the sequins act as "pixels" and form a new photo-
ArtPrize and using photo images but with a very different outlook.
graphic image.
Considering herself a feminist activist artist, she is exploring
Jeremy Kirsch, in forming his project, used computer-program
male pride through an installation of 56 antique dishes, each with a templates. This design approach prompted the placement of
photo transfer of a fisherman showing off a prized catch.
sequins.
The dishes merge together with the jesting title, Does This
"I've always been interested in things that haven't been tried
Make My
Look Big? and will be shown in a wall display at the
before," he says. "I like to make the work entertaining."
Women's City Club.
Interested in creative artistry since childhood, Jeremy Kirsch
"I work in multimedia': says Oelbaum, who has painted murals
became a film major at the Rochester Institute of Technology in
in the children's area of the Jewish Community Center of Greater
New York State. He worked on themed attractions before moving to
Ann Arbor. "I know how to draw and paint, but I think the ideas
California, a locale that promised more entertainment opportuni-
make my work interesting:'
ties.
Oelbaum (active with the Jewish Women Artists Network,
The brothers will meet up in Grand Rapids, where Michele Brody
Women's Caucus for Art and the Feminist Art Project) early on took is showing an environmental installation that includes Michigan
art classes at the Jewish Community Center in Toronto. Formal
plants.
studies were at the Ontario College of Art and the State University
Nature Preserve, displayed at the Urban Institute for
of New York, first in fine arts and later in gallery administration.
Contemporary Arts, consists of 38 foot-long clear tubes filled with
Oelbaum, who has done administrative work in New York galler-
nutrient-enriched water to nurture different species of wetland
ies, has shown her own projects in Canada, Finland and Italy.
plants native to the state.
"My participation in Grand Rapids is less about the competition
"I work in response to my environment, whether nature, archi-
and more about the involvement in an exciting art venture': she
tecture or social structures," says Brody, 44, living in New York.
says. "It's a great opportunity to learn about a broad range of art:'
"I'm a community-based artist, not a studio-based artist, and this
That range extends with the work of Joshua Kirsch, who refer-
project questions what it means to preserve landscape in a global
ences a Jewish star in his interactive installation Concentricity
community:'
Contributing Writer
W
Laboratory on page 60
Ofer MizraChi: Peaceful Nature.
John M In c h Illo
Michelle Brody: Nature Preserve, detail.
Joshua Kirsch: Concentricity 96, detail.
.1;
eremy Kirsch: Glitter Girl.