LINES OF LOSS.Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard Art and philosophy meet the Holocaust this month in Eugene in the form of two simultaneous shows of work by a French abstract artist little known in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Collages by Colette Brunschwig are being displayed at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The original building was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence as part of his "main university quadrangle," now known as the Memorial Quadrangle. at the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. . And a collection of Brunschwig's Chinese-style ink paintings opens Friday at White Lotus White Lotus Chinese Buddhist millenarian movement that was often persecuted because of its association with rebellion. The movement had roots in 4th-century worship of the Buddha Amitabha, whose devotional cult inspired Mao Ziyuan to form the White Lotus Society, a pious Gallery downtown. Both exhibits are being offered in connection with ``Witnessing Genocide: Representation and Responsibility,'' a conference being held at the UO this weekend. Key to pulling both shows together was Steven Shankman, a comparative literature professor at the UO, and his wife, Marsha Shankman, an artist who curated the White Lotus show. The Shankmans traveled to Paris last year to meet Brunschwig after learning about her collages of poems by Paul Celan Paul Celan (IPA: [ˈpaʊl tseˈlaːn]; November 23, 1920 – approximately April 20, 1970) was the most frequently used pseudonym of Paul Antschel, one of the major poets of the post-World War II era. , a well-known European lyric poet who wrote about his own experiences in the Holocaust. Celan, a Jew, was imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- in Romanian labor camps Noun 1. labor camp - a penal institution for political prisoners who are used as forced labor labour camp camp - a penal institution (often for forced labor); "China has many camps for political prisoners" during World War II. His parents were killed. He wrote a number of volumes of German poetry, much of it about the Holocaust, before his suicide in 1970. Brunschwig, also Jewish, survived the war by hiding out from the Nazis. She is now 80. She has shown her artwork in galleries in Jerusalem since 1952. Her paintings also are in the collection of the Musee National d'Art Moderne mo·derne adj. Striving to be modern in appearance or style but lacking taste or refinement; pretentious. [French, modern, from Old French; see modern.] Adj. 1. in Paris. The two exhibits in Eugene mark the first substantial showing of the artist's work in the United States. The UO conference is on witnessing, Steven Shankman explained. ``When you're a witness to unspeakable events, what are the obligations of the witnesses?'' he said. Brunschwig and Celan were each witnesses to the genocide, from different points of view. In her collages, Steven Shankman said, those two points of view come together. The collages, he said, are ``visual meditations'' on Celan's poetry. ``She considers these works to be bearing witness to the Holocaust,'' Steven Shankman said, ``and to World War II.'' Brunschwig's collages are built around galley proofs of Celan's poetry. They are loose, rough and calligraphic cal·lig·ra·phy n. 1. a. The art of fine handwriting. b. Works in fine handwriting considered as a group. 2. Handwriting. , centering in the text of his poems. ``When she discovered the poems of Celan in the 1970s, she was completely blown away that he was attempting in his poetry to get at something she was getting at in her painting,'' Marsha Shankman says. Meanwhile, the brush paintings, which will be displayed at the White Lotus, are quite different work. They are more abstract, moodier and more ethereal ethereal /ethe·re·al/ (e-ther´e-il) 1. pertaining to, prepared with, containing, or resembling ether. 2. evanescent; delicate. e·the·re·al adj. 1. . Steven Shankman saw them on one of his trips to Brunschwig's studio and asked the artist whether he might borrow them as well. Large and dark, most of them painted simply with black ink, the brush paintings still manage to suggest some underlying, ghostly reality. One appears to be a negative image of a woman's dress floating in space, an image certainly evocative of loss. Others have images of circles suspended in a black background, like planets. "These are incredible," Steven Shankman recalls thinking. "We've got to have a show of these." White Lotus owner Hue-Ping Lin said she was skeptical when the Shankmans broached the idea of a show at the gallery of work by a little-known European. The White Lotus primarily shows Asian art Asian art can refer to art amongst many cultures in Asia. The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum is the only museum in the world that systematically collects and exhibits Asian modern and contemporary art. . But Lin knew the Shankmans and said her trust was justified when the paintings arrived from France. In fact, the paintings, with their Chinese roots, look completely at home at the Eugene gallery. ONE ARTIST, TWO EXHIBITS Brush in Hand What: Abstract ink wash paintings by French artist Colette Brunschwig Where: White Lotus Gallery, 767 Willamette St. When: Friday through June 9 Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Gallery talk: Steven Shankman will talk about ``China and Colette Brunschwig's Art of Witnessing'' at 2 p.m. Saturday The Rose of No One What: Collages by Colette Brunschwig, that incorporate the poetry of European Jewish writer Paul Celan, who was imprisoned during the Holocaust Where: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane, on the University of Oregon campus The University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon has around 80 buildings and facilities, including athletics sites such as Hayward Field, which is the site for the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials, and McArthur Court, and off-campus sites such as nearby Autzen Stadium and the When: Through June 16 Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Admission: $5 |
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