Granddaughter, by Hilary Meir

The opening of the new exhibition of paintings by 19 women from the Sharon area (Herzliya and Raanana) at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center (TAPAC) on July 30th was a festive occasion well attended by people from far and wide, including many ESRA members who came to encourage their ESRA friends who participated in the exhibition (Brenda Bitman, Roz Graff, Linda Sackstein, Mickey Taylor and Hilary Meir from Isana's group in Lev Hapark, Raanana). Several of the artists whose work is exhibited are veterans who have already achieved recognition, but others belong to the group who have fairly recently discovered the medium of painting as a means of expression, and for whom painting is an inspiring and absorbing pastime. 

Inspired and curated by artist/teacher/art therapist and curator, Isana Meirovich-Yaacov, 'A Close Look' comprises portraits by the women of family members who have special meaning for them (parents, grandparents, children or grandchildren). 

The portraits are about relationships, expressing the inner world of the painters' feelings for the subjects of the portraits.  Many of the portraits reveal an emotional depth which would be  difficult to express in words, and various phenomenological elements of each painting such as the choice of colors, the composition, the quality of the brush strokes and the textures reveal much about the dynamics of the artist /subject relationship. The portraits represent a fascinating variety of different styles and techniques.

The exhibition, in the foyer of the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, will be open to visitors until mid October 2010.