Since appearing on the cover of the inaugural issue of Oregon Jewish Life, Aithan Shapira, Ph.D., and Debra Rosenthal have been busy preparing for their July wedding and Aithan has kept busy with exhibits in the United States and Europe.
During May, Aithan exhibited “Migration with Pomegranate”, as one of 40 artists whose work was on the short list for “International Jewish Artist of the Year” at the London Jewish Museum of Art. “I made the paint using earth from Israel and olive tree ash mulled with oils like the work I exhibited at Froelick Gallery. This piece is currently being negotiated for collection by the Museum,” says Aithan.
He is represented locally by The Froelick Gallery in the Pearl, where he had a show in March.
“While the Froelick Gallery was on, I had a simultaneous solo print exhibit at Marist Art Gallery in New York, nine-foot etchings and colographs, that was very successful. Two large-scale prints were bequested to the Rollins College collection by top private collectors.”
The Seattle Art Museum Gallery exhibited his work in June, and he is exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Art, London, through August. “I was honored with an invitation to the 244th Varnishing Day at the Academy,” he says.
Regarding the response to the article in OJL, Aithan says, “I got terrific reactions from everyone, friends and new friends. Many are impressed with my international accolades and beyond the welcome, I got overwhelming appreciation for making my art in Portland. I have ambitions for larger projects and public works in Portland and am looking for key players in the community who would be interested in collaborating with me. There has been much warmth from the Jewish community, and the (Jewish) Federation (of Greater Portland) has been especially terrific; I’m currently speaking with board members about some wonderful projects for the Portland community.”
“I was since asked to give a TEDx Talk; using art as a metaphor, I challenged contemporaries to celebrate today’s Cubist problem — the urgent need to know all we are not seeing, be simultaneously inside and outside, in history and the present.”
For more information on these exhibits and Aithan’s work, visit www.aithanshapira.com.