Jewish Sentinal (Manhattan)
Jewish Tribune (Rockland)
and Feature Article:
"The Art of Reconnecting"
Post and Opinion
Feature Article
Jewish Educational Magazine
in Centerpiece
by Marge Eiseman Music CD
on CD Cover
Newspaper
Jewish Chronicle
edition Rosh Hashanah Magazine.
Newspaper
Holiday editions
(This column appeared in the Hanukkah edition of the newspaper as a full featured article which included many pictures. Unfortunately, in order to share it with you here on the web, we have had to remove the images.)
By Ed Stattmann
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Bruce David is an artist who lives in the Hoosier National Forest just outside here, a man who produces
Judaica in a variety of media.He is one of those people whose art possesses him. He seems to be a person who must produce art, just as a fertile plant must flower.
In 1998, and again in 2000, he designed and oversaw the fabrication of two large
round glass mosaics, the second of which is 5 feet in diameter and contains between 7,000 and 10,000 pieces of glass. The art was commissioned, but he took on a debt to get it fabricated.
David describes himself as self-taught in art, yet his art has
been compared with that of Marc Chagall. Self-taught might be the wrong description. Self-discovered describes his evolution as an artist more accurately. "The artistic career that I enjoy at present actually began in the mid 1970s," David says. "Having
shown skills in the writing field during college, I later began creating books of my poems and prose, accompanied by simple illustrations. Three books were produced in the second half of the 70's. Here is where my drawing abilities began to surface.
"The primitive black and white drawings in these three volumes were where I taught myself the concept of flow and dimension. They also taught me how to tell stories through drawings." Many of his works he describes as "icons that change while the viewer
looks at the picture."
In 1982, he opened an art gallery on his property in the Hoosier National Forest, featuring other local artists' works. The area around Brown County, Ind., is known for its natural beauty and for its many producers of art
and craft objects.When there was idle time at the gallery, he started dabbling in colored painting. His wife and mainstay, Diane, presented him a birthday gift of a large pad of drawing paper and a set of colored pencils. At the same time, he was on a
spiritual journey that brought him back to his roots in Judaism.
He traces his accomplishments since then back to that time of spiritual renewal and colored art supplies."The medium of drawing allowed me to explore an aspect of my spirituality that
had been lacking in my traditional religious upbringing. In childhood, I had been 'force fed' religion without spirit, and like so many others of my generation, I searched elsewhere for what I needed," he says.
David was born in Louisville and went
to a Jewish day school there before going on to high school and the University of Louisville."Returning to Judaism, coupled with the discovery of an amazing artistic skill for which I had not been trained, gave me the impetus for wanting to teach others
the beauty and importance of the Jewish faith. From the beginning, my drawings have been aimed at teaching the biblical tradition in a contemporary way; I do not produce secular art. "My drawings are inspired by traditional and mystical aspects of
Judaism, from the Torah, Scriptures, holidays, and other spiritual concepts, which I then reproduce in original serigraph, lithograph, stained glass window, glass mosaic, bronze or metal sculpture forms."
Being self-taught, David sought
confirmation that he was on the right course as an artist."In 1983, once I had produced nearly a dozen of these multidimensional drawings, I approached the local Hillel rabbi for guidance. He directed me to an art appreciation instructor at the Indiana
University School of Fine Arts, Prof. Mazelle Van Buskirk, who recognized my artistic style as original, and advised me not to study other artists' works, but to continue creating these drawings. Later that year, she wrote, "[David's] drawings in
colored pencil are exceedingly complex in their iconography, beautifully controlled in their composition, and rich and vibrant in their colors. I am struck by the sureness of his compositional treatment, especially when his drawings are filled with
myriad metamorphosing figures and teeming forms. He invariably manages to create forms that in their multiple symbolism demonstrate his rich and creative imagination." Van Buskirk has compared David's art with that of Marc Chagall and has praised his
work in her lectures. The professor was the 1984 recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award in Arts and Humanities at Indiana University. David in 1986 exhibited his art at the IU School of Fine Arts Gallery, where he was the first community artist
ever to be given an exhibition. He also won the praise of John Goodheart, the director of the school, for drawings Goodheart called "extremely rich, both visually and intellectually. "
The director of the Tampa Museum of Art, R. Andrew Maass, saw
David's art as following that of the early Marc Chagall works, commenting, "However, you have updated it to be more attuned to today's international neo-expressionism style. It is at once allegorical as well as fanciful. It is as absorbingly powerful
as it is lyrical and resonant." David's fervor goes beyond providing esthetic pleasure for himself and others. He wants to educate people about the themes and values of Judaism. Not that he is seeking converts to Judaism. As one who was a religious
seeker for years, he learned to value the diversity of faiths. But he was delighted in 1991 when a Chicago high school art teacher taught a 9-week unit of study featuring his work as a springboard for art projects by the students.
He has
exhibited at numerous national and international Jewish conferences and conventions and has been featured in a number of galleries.He also has exhibited at numerous community festivals and exhibitions in various U.S. cities."Because of the high quality
of my framed art and the fact that I do not work on the sabbath, I do not participate in the larger outdoor weekend art fairs," he says.
Traditional in his belief, David is thoroughly modern in his means. He has promoted his art with a video using
advanced computer techniques to bring out its hidden symbolism. In 1998 he created and has since updated a web site featuring every aspect of his work: serigraphs, lithographs, stained glass windows, glass mosaics, metal sculptures and bronze relief
(www.davidart.com).
In 1996, he was commissioned to design and oversee the fabrication and installation of four stained glass windows for several synagogues. Through a commission in 1998, he was able to produce a large three-dimensional metal art
sculpture of one of his designs. Early in 2001, a commission allowed him to produce a 6-panel stained glass window . He now is working on another commissioned glass mosaic, a commissioned Haggadah, a small edition etched glass seder plate, and a stained
glass window design. He has spent much of the last year designing the 80-plus page Haggadah.
Passover Feature Article
Jewish World (Long Island), Jewish Sentinal (Manhattan), Jewish Tribune (Rockland)
Bruce David's art captures the joy and wonder of Judaism. His works-lithographs, original hand-pulled serigraphs, stained glass,
glass mosaics, bronze and polished metals-are colorful celebrations of familiar Jewish themes, which first capture your attention, then draw your eye into their myriad details. His lithograph, "HeartSong Celebration," featured on this issue's cover,
depicts Moses, Miriam and the Jewish people rejoicing in freedom at the Red Sea's shore. It is based on a five-foot-round mosaic David created with 7,000-10,000 individual pieces of glass. Some, used for the rays of light streaming down from the
firmament behind the celebrating figures, which symbolize the illuminating light of God's love for the Israelites, were laminated on mirrors to achieve their reflective effect. Other items in the work are fabricated from specialty glasses, such as
catspaw, used for the turtle's shell, and drapery glass, used to simulate the swan's ruffled feathers and the dog's hair.
A self-taught artist who has been fashioning his pieces since the early 1980s, Bruce David works in a studio in the woods at
his home near Lake Monroe in Hoosier National Forest outside of Bloomington, Indiana, which he shares with his wife, Diane, and son, Joshua. A shomer Shabbat child of the Old Northwest, having been born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, he speaks about
his life and work with the American heartland's characteristic hearty openness. "I came to Judaism as an artist in a kind of roundabout fashion," David recounted in a recent conversation. "My mom came from an Orthodox background, my dad from a Reform
one, and I went to the Louisville Jewish Day School. I had a Jewish education, but I drifted away, like many folks do, in college and after. "Then, one year, after we were married, Diane and I decided to see if we could rediscover Judaism as adults.
Well, we did, and soon enough I was looking for a way to share with others our joy of reconnecting."
Diane's gift of a box of paint-pigment pencils gave him his first outlet, and he has been expanding his artistic repertoire ever since.
David
maintains his sense of rediscovery by starting most of his projects without preliminary sketches. "You need them for stained glass," he explains, "because it's a difficult material to improvise with." But for other works, he enjoys watching intricate
patterns, colors and symbols unfold from his mind and hands as he executes a depiction of a theme from Jewish tradition that has captured his imagination. "City of Peace," David's lithographic evocation of Jerusalem's promise, is an example. At first
glance, it is a riotous profusion of reds and golds. Look more closely, and the word "Shalom"-50 times, in all-emerges from the stonework patterns of the ancient city's walls, walkways and landscape. Described in critic's prose, "City of Peace" tends to
sound like "Where's Waldo in Shul?" Seen as a 26-inch-by-19-inch lithograph, its blend of easily recognizable Jewish symbols-Havdalah candles, spice box, kiddush cup and shofar, among others-each assembled of other, complex design elements, makes the
piece at once riveting and enchanting, reproducing in the viewer David's joy while rediscovering his Judaism anew in composing the work.
Some of David's artworks are based on client commissions. "Reflections of the Soul," a 17-inch-by-221/4-inch
lithograph, depicts an opened Torah scroll flanked by white doves in flight. It is based on an eight-foot-tall stained glass window now installed in Louisville's Knesseth Israel Synagogue. Most of his work, though, is the product of inspiration, without
much prior thought given to commerce. David maintains an Internet Web site (www.davidart.com), through which collectors of Judaic art can preview and purchase his lithographs, serigraphs, mosaics and polished metal pieces. He also makes rounds each year,
exhibiting in museum and fine arts galleries, as well as at national and international Jewish conventions and conferences. (We first encountered David at last summer's CAJE conference for Jewish educators, held on Long Island. Hadassah, the Council of
Jewish Federations-UJA General Assemblies, B'nai B'rith and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, among others, have hosted his work.)
David is seeking national representation through a gallery or dealer, and possibly a business manager or
patron. "Living in the woods meets my needs for contemplation and inspiration," he says, "but it makes it kind of hard to share my joy with others."
As Passover 5761 approaches, Bruce David reveals he is in the midst of realizing two new projects:
a Haggadah, and a hand-etched and hand-carved storytelling seder plate. "Storytelling," he noted, "is the common key. Passover is a powerful narrative, full of wonder, and that's what I'm setting out to capture in both of these pieces." -
A.S.
Bruce David's works can be previewed and purchased through his Web site (www.davidart.com), or by calling his toll-free number, (888) 837-9904. He can also be contacted via e-mail at
davidart@davidart.com.
All Lithographs and Serigraphs
All Art Mediums (other than prints)
