HANS COPER—LESS MEANS MORE features the sculptural work of Hans Coper (1920-1981), a radical Jewish artist of the mid-twentieth century who was at the vanguard of British studio ceramics, pushing the boundaries of clay and forms of abstraction in his work. Guest curated by Sandra Percival, founding Director and Curator of Zena Zezza, the exhibition presents nearly 50 works by Coper including his Spade, Thistle, Ovoid and Cycladic forms drawn from an extensive collection of his work in England’s York Art Gallery, a rarely seen Portland collection, and a cluster of works from collectors and California institutions. Coper left Germany for England as a Jewish refugee in early 1939. The exhibition also includes works by celebrated ceramicist Lucie Rie, also a Jewish refugee, along with a small selection of related contemporary and modern artworks. Coper was described as “gentle, yet shattering” and Less Means More opens a conversation into the complexities and contradictions embedded in his life and work.
ALSO:
Betty LaDuke: EARLY WORK: curated by Bruce Guenther, Adjunct Curator for Special Exhibitions, features works created in the 1960s by one of Oregon’s most internationally recognized artists, Betty LaDuke, recipient of the Governors Art Award 1993. Centered in her identity as a first generation Jewish American, the early graphic works are based on memories of the vibrant street life of the immigrant neighborhoods of New York and stories from the Jewish bible. The works form a foundation for understanding the evolution of her long career as a narrative, image-based artist driven by deep social and political engagement.
The topic springs from research for a forthcoming book (Living in Silverado: Secret Jews in the Mining Towns of Colonial Mexico, University of New Mexico Press, 2019).
David Gitlitz was educated at Oberlin College and trained in literary and historical scholarship at Harvard, receiving his PhD in 1968. His early work dealt with various aspects of Spanish Renaissance and Baroque literary tradition. His more recent work, some of it in collaboration with the late Dr. Linda Davidson, has focused on the connections between Judaic and Hispanic cultures. Gitlitz and Davidson’s books on the culture of pilgrimage, on Sephardic culinary culture, and on crypto-Judaism, have become standards in their fields. Two — Secrecy and Deceit, the Religion of the Crypto-Jews, and A Drizzle of Honey: the Lives and Recipes of Spain’s Crypto-Jews — have won National Jewish Book Awards.
This is part of the OJMCHE series of informal lunchtime conversations. Bring a lunch or buy a brown bag lunch in Lefty’s Cafe and join us in the museum’s auditorium for a lively give and take as we share and explore ideas, experience, and expertise.
The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club
Noon Registration & Lunch
1 pm Shotgun
Awards Ceremony, Auction & Dinner to Follow
Tournament Sponsor
Menashe Properties – Barry, Jordan & Lauren Menashe
Golf Course Sponsor
Apex Real Estate / Gevurtz Menashe
B’nai B’rith Men’s Camp Association raises vital funds for capital improvements to update our historic campus and incentive grants for all first-time campers. Through sponsorships, donation and player registration, the Golf Tournament raises additional funds for scholarships to ensure that every child can afford the camping experience.
Come study and discuss the Bible with Rabbi Isaak at Neveh Shalom.
Guest curator Sandra Percival, founding Director and Curator of Zena Zezza will lead a tour of the exhibition featuring over forty works of Hans Coper installed in a “Gesamttkunstwerk” or “total work of art” in conversation with Portland-based artist, Malia Jensen. Coper pushed the boundaries of clay and forms of abstraction in his work, fusing the functional with the cultural with the symbolic. Since 2013, Zena Zezza’s artist project seasons have featured artists such as Josiah McElheny, Stan Douglas and Chantal Akerman accompanied by a series of performative lectures and events on the ideas and influences in each artist’s practice.
Percival is joined by artist Malia Jensen for a conversation on Coper’s work and the origins of his practice as a studio potter, first working with and sharing a studio with Lucie Rie from 1946 to 1958. Jensen’s father, Jay Jensen, was a studio potter in Oregon, thriving during the fertile art and craft scene of the 1970s. Malia Jensen’s work often combines raw and seductive materials, including clay, to call attention to the brutality and beauty of daily life. Central to her practice is a metaphorical exploration of the human condition. Jensen’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and she has been an Artist in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Jensen is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery.
The next Curator tour/talk will be Aug. 8, 4-5 pm.
Join Congregation Neveh Shalom for their weekly Shabbat outdoors on the plaza! From now through September, every Friday night at 6:15 pm, you can enjoy our beautiful Portland summer evenings singing, praying and schmoozing outside on our upper plaza!
If the weather doesn’t allow us to be outside, we will meet in the Stampfer Chapel.
Join Mel Berwin from Congregation Neveh Shalom for uplifting learning & conversation – all levels welcome!
Mah Jongg for Beginners – now offering 6-week-long session!
Learn to play this ancient game. It will give your mind a workout!
Tuesday Mornings
July 16 – August 20
10:30 am – 12:30 pm, CG400
Cost: $110. Member Cost: $90.
Register: oregonjcc.org/registration
Mah Jongg for Intermediate Players – now offering 6-week-long session!
Take your game to the next level.
Tuesday Afternoons
July 16 – August 20
1:30 – 3:30 pm, CG401
Cost: $110. Member Cost: $90.
Register: oregonjcc.org/registration