Israeli Artist Arie Azene Opens CLE Exhibit

“Everything is special when you treat it in the eyes of art.”

For the last seven years, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland has showcased Israeli art and artists from a variety of genres and time periods as part of the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection.

“It’s allowed us to help connect audiences to the best of Israeli visual and performing arts,” says Hedy Milgrom, Federation’s Chief Development Officer. “We’re exposing people to the cutting edge side of Israel and we bring that here to Cleveland.”

The current collection is Perspectives in Opposition: horizons + quartets by Israeli artist, Arie Azene; two of his most recent series of works - Quartets and Skyline and Coastline are on display. “Arie is interesting to me because his work is so diverse,” said Roe Green, who joins Erica Hartman-Horvitz as Cleveland Israel Arts Connection Co-Chairs. “He’s a good example of what happens when artists grow; they change and they learn just like anything else.”

Arie came to Cleveland for the opening of his show. He described his collections as ‘eclectic’ due to his ever-changing style. “With Quartets, I was listening to Beethoven’s quartet chamber music. There were two violins, one viola and a cello. I chose 4 colors and started to play the instruments of color against each other in contrast or in harmony. In Coastline, the virtual line separates two totally different and opposed elements like water and land, sea and shore, sky and earth, clouds and buildings.”

Arie’s paintings are being shown in the Roe Green Gallery, located inside the Federation’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Building in Beachwood. “It’s nice to see two different sides of his work on display,” said Dan McLaughlin of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, which generously supports the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection. “We have a very culturally rich community and county here – Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Being able to have international art at the Roe Green Gallery, bringing it in and displaying it for the public is very important.”

Perspectives in Opposition: horizons + quartets will be on exhibit until June 2017. For information on the collections or on the Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, contact Debbie Yasinow at 216-593-2890 or dyasinow@jcfcleve.org.

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