50 | JANUARY 11 • 2024 J
N

ARTS&LIFE
ART

F

aina Lerman and 
Mitch Cope are two 
of the 23 artists select-
ed for the new exhibition, 
Beyond Typography, being 
shown Jan. 14-Feb. 21 in the 
Janice Charach Gallery in the 
West Bloomfield J (Jewish 
Community Center).
The artists were 
known and picked 
by curator Clinton 
Snider, who takes 
on art projects for 
himself and teach-
es at the College 
for Creative 
Studies in Detroit. He asked 
artists to depict landscapes with 
deeper identities. 
“Beyond Typography is an 
exhibition of works that deal 
with the American landscape 
beyond the physical represen-
tation of our surroundings,
” 
Snider said. “These paintings, 
sculptures, photographs and 
installations delve into several 
themes including but not lim-
ited to nature, culture and the 
individual. 
“To understand our current 
climate, it is essential to look 
at how humans relate to our 
world, imagine the future and 

interpret the past.
”

FAINA LERMAN
Lerman is not sure which of 
her realistic images will be 
shown. Her working life moves 
beyond her own paintings and 
includes innovative perfor-
mance art and presentation 
opportunities set up with her 
husband, artist Graem Whyte. 
The couple founded Popps 
Packing, a mixed-use art space, 
gallery, laboratory and artist 
residency center. They have 
hosted some 100 artists and 
exhibited work of about 50 
artists.

“I’m 
a refugee 
from Latvia so 
I feel my relationship 
with Judaism is different,
” 
said Lerman, who does not 
cover Judaica in her subjects 
although she considers the 
religion part of her culture and 
who she is. She attends reli-
gious family celebrations with 
her two children, who have 
been enrolled in Tamarack 
Camps. 
Lerman, who lives in 
Hamtramck, has moved into 
realistic art from the abstract. 

“I was just shy of 5 when 
we immigrated to Oak Park in 
1980,
” said Lerman, 48. “We 
had a lot of support from the 
Jewish Federation of Detroit. I 
always drew and was interested 
in exploring. 
“It was encouraged by my 
parents, and I grew up think-
ing the arts in general were 
respected and important to 
value. I took some classes at the 
Birmingham Bloomfield Art 
Center (BBAC) when I was lit-
tle. I traveled after high school 
and went to the Center for 
Creative Studies starting when 
I was 24. I graduated in 2004.
”
In 2015-16, after her father 
passed away, Lerman started 
going through some old family 
albums and did a lot of por-
traits of family. She considers 
them memory reflections. 
While Lerman expresses 
that her family responsibilities 
take priority, she notes that 

New exhibit coming to the 
Janice Charach Gallery.

Clinton 
Snider

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

 ‘Beyond 
Typography’

An oil on canvas by Faina Lerman

“Carp Lake Lily 
 
Moon 1,” 2022, Colored Pencil 
 
on Paper, by Mitch Cope