arts&life

exhibit

Proud To Be
An American

Artist Beverly Neumann exhibits a series
celebrating the ‘greatest generation.’

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

W

Rosie the Riveter at work

details

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“Military Art” will be on view through Nov. 2 at the Detroit Center for Design +
Technology, 4219 Woodward, Detroit. No admission charge. A public reception
will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23. (313) 818-3596; detroit.design.

October 18 • 2018

jn

henever Beverly
Neumann hears
news reports about
veterans’ issues on television,
she thinks about two cousins
lost in World War II.
“Way back, there was an
Aunt Etta on my father’s side,”
she recalls. “My aunt had
two sons — one fighting in
Germany and one fighting in
England. Toward the end of the
war, the one in Germany went
missing so the other son asked
for approval to go to Germany
and see what he could find out.
Sadly, his plane went down
over the English Channel.
“So many people have these
kinds of tragedies in their fam-
ilies, and I wanted to remind
people, especially young people
born after those years, about
that war and ‘the greatest
generation’ that had so many
heroes. My way of communi-
cating is through paintings.”
Thirteen Neumann paint-
ings, a series titled “Military
Art,” became a two-year
project and will be on
view through Nov. 2 at the
Detroit Center for Design +
Technology in Midtown.
Neumann’s paintings will be
joined by work completed by
Detroit artist Nicole Lapointe,
who illustrated the new book
Rosie, A Detroit Herstory. The
book, for young readers, details
how women successfully took
over what had been considered
strictly male factory jobs as
men went off to fight.
“The proceeds from the sale
of my paintings will go to the

John D. Dingell VA Medical
Center in Detroit,” says
Neumann, who plans an exhib-
it reception on Oct. 23.
Soon after the start of
WWII, President Roosevelt
called for America to become
a powerhouse of defense
manufacturing — one way
of getting his message out
was to have posters created.
Neumann makes modifica-
tions to these stylized posters
to portray her own message.
Among the realistic imag-
es are paintings of Winston
Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt
and Joseph Stalin; a repre-
sentation of the bombing of
London; a victory garden; and
a bomber plane produced in
Detroit. Plaques underneath
each image explain the artist’s
approach.
“I’m a realist and social
commentator, sometimes with
humor,” says Neumann, who
has used oils and acrylics on
canvas for this series and usu-
ally works big with pieces that
can be as large as 5 feet in one
direction. “My mind is always
racing with ideas for social
commentary. All my different
interests, including science and
space, are represented through
my art.”
Neumann’s artwork, some-
times reproduced on metal
to be less expensive, has been
featured through the Janice
Charach Gallery in West
Bloomfield, the Birmingham
Bloomfield Art Center in
Birmingham, various public
displays in Birmingham and