Not So Still Life, With Music: The Milken Archive of Jewish Music Presents Paintings by Ralph Gilbert
April 11, 2012
What: Talking about music, it has been said, is like dancing about architecture. But how about painting about music?
In Not So Still Life, With Music: The Milken Archive of Jewish Music Presents Paintings by Ralph Gilbert, a series of 20 oil paintings explores a vast repertoire of music reflecting the scope and variety of the Jewish experience in America over the past 350 years. The exhibition is presented in conjunction with the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture’s Violins of Hope project. The Violins of Hope pays tribute to the indomitable spirit and creativity that transcended the Holocaust. The Milken Archive paintings share a common theme – the preservation, dissemination and inspiration of a culture that has not only survived but thrived in the freedom of America.
Who: Perhaps best known for his murals in public spaces, artist Ralph Gilbert is the former Associate Dean for the Fine Arts and founding directors of the Center for Collaborative and International Arts at Georgia State University. Gilbert was commissioned by the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience to create the paintings to complement 20 themed volumes of music, encompassing more than 700 recordings, oral histories, photos and essays.
“Music, unlike painting, has no tangible or physical presence and moves through time. So I wanted to make paintings that revealed their meaning gradually over time as well,” said Gilbert.
When: Exhibition runs through April 24, 2012
Where: UNC Charlotte Center City Building 320 E. 9th Street, Charlotte, NC
For an interview with artist Ralph Gilbert or museum-quality photographs of the paintings, contact Bonnie Somers bsomers@mff.org or 818-307-3111.
