Rinat’s Nerot proudly invites the greater community to an art reception on Sunday evening, August 1, featuring well-known artists David Friedman and David Wander. Guests are invited to meet the artists, who will present a variety of pieces that reflect their individual perspectives and techniques.
David Friedman’s experimental style is represented in much of his work. He employs industrial materials, pigments and fire to shape delicate and bold forms into cinematic dreamscapes. He layers washes of smoke on canvas, leather, paper and wood to scar, stain and stress the physical singularity of each object. He has received multiple awards and was nominated for a Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant.
David Wander is an artist who works in many mediums. His subject matter includes landscape, still life and geometric abstractions. For the past 20 years, Wander has worked exclusively with biblical texts, reimagining them in a visual context using an accordion book format. He has expanded the framework of Jewish American art by finding modern-day significance within ancient texts. His biblical work has been widely shown in museums and religious spaces throughout the United States, Europe, and Israel.
Both Friedman and Wander teach at SAR high school in Riverdale, New York. Friedman is the chair of the art department and Wander teaches art and calligraphy. As working artists and educators, they have a unique influence on students who turn to them for both advice and inspiration. Through the years, they have developed meaningful connections with many of their students who consider the art room a safe space where they can hone their artistic skills and talk about their lives and religious identities.
The program will begin with wine and light refreshments at 7:30, followed by a Q&A session led by Teaneck resident and Rinat member Ora Bayewitz-Meier. Bayewitz-Meier teaches art history, English literature and writing, literature and film senior elective, and co-teaches the Drawing From the Text Judaic studies senior elective at SAR High School. She also founded SAR’s annual student-led film festival in 2018. In 2019, she received The Jewish Education Project’s Young Pioneers Award, and in 2020, she received the JCY-Westchester Community Partners’ Jutkowitz Meyers Volunteer Award for Community Service.
Bayewitz-Meier, who has worked with both Friedman and Wander since 2007, said their work has inspired her in a profound way, and she believes the community would appreciate the opportunity to experience their exceptional talent. “Both Friedman and Wander are deeply connected to their Jewish experiences and create work that demonstrates the relevancy of Jewish art today. Working in a variety of media, both artists use art to ask important questions and inspire viewers to become more connected to the present and their Jewish values,” she said.
Bayewitz-Meier and her family are also dedicated Rinat members. Her sister, Bina Faber, is the current president of Rinat, and her husband is a board member.
The reception will begin at 8:30, at which time guests will have a chance to purchase what Meier describes as modern-day masterpieces that are uniquely distinguished from the artwork people have seen time and again. A portion of all sales will be donated to Rinat.
Admission to the event is $18 in advance or $20 at the door. To register please go to https://www.rinat.org/nerot-art#. For more information, please contact Ora Bayewitz-Meier at [email protected].
By Andrea Nissel
