On Display - Cundo Bermudez

Sue and I went to a display of some of the works of Cundo Bermudez (1914-2008) at the Charlotte Country Day School's Hance Fine Arts Center the other day. The Center is located at 1440 Carmel Road, just south of Fairview Road. Plenty of signs and parking made the trip very pleasant.

Cundo Bermudez is the Cuban Modernist Painter who fled Cuba in 1967. His exposure to Mexican art in the late 1930's, when he traveled to Mexico, along with his subsequent exposure to some of the finest European painters, such as Matisse, Picasso, and Rousseau give all his work a unique touch, blending colors and lines into images that are at once reminiscent of Mayan art, while at the same time evoking a more modern Cubist flavor. Add to this the fact that he worked right until his death at age 94, and you can easily see how he was such an influence within his genre. Some of his latest works are among his best, with a relevancy that defied his age. He was, to coin a pun, an artist who would not allow himself to be painted into a corner.

The exhibit is a product of the generosity of Isaac and Sonia Luski, who fled Castro's Cuba in 1960, taking only 4 suitcases of clothing with them. On the way to the airport they stopped at the gallery of Renee Portocarrero and purchased 2 of his pieces. They wanted to take something of Cuba with them to their new country.

Over the years Mr. and Mrs. Luski have acquired more than 50 pieces of Cuban art, which they generously share with the public. In the words of Mr. Luski himself, "We collect art because we love it. We give it away because we like to share it." That's quite a statement.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Luski , along with Charlotte Country Day School, for brightening a grey January afternoon with your generosity. It is people, and institutions, such as yourselves, who keep the world turning, allowing us to always expect a brighter tomorrow with each new dawn.

Davidson Community School's Holocaust Memorial

I never know what I am going to do when I wake up each day. Aside from emergency situations that pop up here and there, I am largely at my leisure. When I read this mornings paper I saw that the Community School of Davidson was having a Holocaust Memorial Exhibit for the next few days. It sounded intriguing so I figured I’d check it out.

To begin with, I was kind of surprised that the Community School of Davidson would be having this event. No real reason for my surprise, I just thought of them as an elite school and accordingly, and incorrectly as it turns out, to place no real emphasis on social issues. I love it when I’m wrong. Leason learned.

These kids spent two weeks, or more, preparing the exhibit. Upon first entering you are given a guide, in my case it was Lauren Best, a 6th grade student at the school. She was animated and well informed in her presentation. The diagram shows the route and nature of the exhibits. The journey begins with Propaganda and moves onto Kristalnacht, the November 1938 “Night of Glass”, considered by many to be the beginning of the Holocaust.

From there the exhibit moves on to the Warsaw Ghetto, where in October of 1940 the Jews of Warsaw were restricted to a small area of the city and basically allowed to starve. The exhibit was done by creating a small alcove into a replica of a typical ghetto apartment. Remember, these kids were working with construction paper and magic markers, and yet the effect was claustrophobic. It was very effective work.

The Railcar was a particularly useful tool for realizing the cramped conditions and sheer inhumanity of the deportations. First there is a square foot marked off in the hall outside the exhibit into which you are asked to stand with 5 other people. That’s what the Jews experienced on their way to the concentration camps. It was unnerving for 5 minutes, think of the reality of it for an average of 2 days, without food or water. No sanitary facilities; stripped of all belongings except for the clothes on your back.

The Auschwitz Camp and Anne Franks’ hidden apartment were also displayed with great effect. The use of photographs and even laptops added to the availability of the presentations. The lighting was subdued and managed to add an appropriately tangible darkness to the subject.

There was a small exhibit about Oskar Schindler and Rabbi Gerber’s Red Shoes, as well as a section of children’s art depicting replica’s of the art work done by the children interred at the Terezin Concentration Camp.

This exhibit was important in many ways, but chiefly it was comforting to know that the Holocaust will not be forgotten, it cannot be ignored. And these kids prove it. My thanks to Davidson Community School for their efforts on behalf of tolerance. And thanks to Lauren Best for her time and a very insightful tour.