The Fine Arts Council of American Jewish University (AJU) announced today that a new exhibit, Visual Variations, will open on September 23, 2012, and the public is invited to a “Meet the Artists” reception from 3:00PM - 5:00PM on opening day. The exhibit in AJU’s Platt and Borstein Galleries will feature the paper cuts of Lorraine Bubar, the photography of Ellen Cantor, and the paintings of Silvia Wagensberg.


Lorraine Bubar’s paper cuts create beautiful scenes of lily ponds, vines, and trees revealing multiple layers of meaning. The theme of Bubar’s work in these seemingly peaceful environmental studies is the underlying tension of the struggles and co-existence of nature.


Ellen Cantor sculpts fruits and vegetables to represent her torso, then photographs them to visualize the invasive addition of rods, screws, and a cage she was told she needed in back surgery. The beauty of Ellen Cantor’s photographs is a stark contrast to the theme of confronting the hardship of living with disabilities, pain, and thoughts of mortality.


Interested in human communication and perception, Silvia Wagensberg explores pictorial language in her paintings, which include the artist gesture and the forms and symbols of the written word. In her newest work, she includes Yiddish, which is considered an endangered language. Language is important to Wagsensberg and she is searching for the power of the word, the subtle, delicate, and spiritual force of forms and symbols.


The Platt and Borstein galleries are located at American Jewish University, 15600 Mulholland Drive in Bel Air. The exhibit will run through December 16, 2012. Gallery hours are Sunday through Thursday 10:00AM – 7:00PM and Friday 10:00AM - 2:00PM. The gallery will be closed Sept. 25, 26, 30, Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, and Nov. 22, 23, 24, and 25. For more information please call Shelley Lavender at 310.476.9777 ext. 201 or visit www.ajula.edu.