Characters of Creativity

To state it plainly, the five artists culled for the exhibition at the Platt Gallery have a thing for letters. That’s nothing particularly new: Contemporary artists, from Ed Ruscha to Jenny Holzer and beyond, have roped words into their aesthetic, questioning the overlap of processes in reading language and “reading” art.

The difference here, though, is religious and cultural. Each artist involved incorporates characters from the Hebrew alphabet into imagery, making art embedded with the legacies, both venerable and tragic, of Jewish life. The Hebrew alphabet takes on a dual function in this art. The letters serve as visual source material (especially for those of us unfamiliar with the linguistic code), and as a statement of cultural belonging.

Santa Fe-based artist Sara Novenson combines landscape painting, rendered in mystical, exaggerated colors, with Hebrew characters. The letters serve as a frame, winding around the perimeter of the images.

In the large mixed-media works of Los Angeles-based artist Shirley Levine, Hebrew characters have been stylized and streamlined. Judith Peck, from Vienna, Va., shows the most emotionally charged art here, portraying “persecuted Jews from the diaspora.” In her paintings, Hebrew characters appear, like an omniscient force, atop portraits of melancholic faces. In “Last Covenant,” the letters drip blood over the sunken-eyed face of a woman.

The largest piece in the gallery is Harry Clewans’ “Ten Plagues,” a large ink-on-fabric drawing, based on assorted woodcut images and Hebrew references. In the works of New York-based artist Jane Loegmann, characters are reduced to minimal markings punctuating parchment-like canvases. She achieves a disarming metamorphosis, perching on the brink separating art from language.

* “Contemporary Expressions, Hebrew Letters,” through Nov. 9 at the Platt Gallery, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Friday. (310) 476-9777.

Multi-Culture: Across town at the Finegood Gallery, the group show called “Roots, Rituals and Spirituality, a Multicultural Exhibition,” ventures beyond Jewish art into work from other cultural perspectives. While some of the work here is socio-politically charged, this art also celebrates ethnic diversity and traditions in Los Angeles’ melting-pot metropolis.

Charles Dickson’s sculptural contraption “Bongo Congo Mobilization of the Spirit” commands attention for its large scale and dynamic assembly. Another prominent sculptural statement in the show is David Moon’s “Too Young to Understand,” which addresses the cultural displacement of a young Korean American grappling with his own identity. Other Asian influences include Emiko Tanaka’s delicate-yet-bold sculptures adorned with tree branches, and Keiko Kasai’s “Bone Tower,” of polished granite.

Mark Greenfield, director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, will moderate a symposium in the gallery at 7 p.m. Sunday.

* “Roots, Rituals and Spirituality, a Multicultural Exhibition,” through Nov. 9 at Finegood Art Gallery, Bernard Milkin Jewish Community Campus, 22622 Vanowen St., West Hills. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday.-Thursday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Friday. (818) 587-3218.