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Exhibits and Reviews
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Selected
Exhibits
Charlestown Gallery, Charlestown, RI, 2010 Westborough Gallery, Westborough, MA, 2004 Fire Opal, Brookline, MA, 2003 Bayside Gallery, Newport Beach, CA, 2002 Laguna Beach Playhouse, Laguna Beach, CA 1998 _________________________ Review:
Laurie Mendenhall, The Daily Pilot, Laguna Beach, California, February
20, 1992 One
of my favorite Orange County artists is Shosh Ernst, whose bold, vibrant
colored canvases go way beyond the reach-out-and-touch-them affectation
one would expect from paintings depicting war and its despair. Israeli-born
Ernst, 45,who first came to the United States from Tel Aviv in 1977, instead
creates abstract figurations which document destruction as it connects
to rebirth, joy as it embraces melancholy, sadness as it evolves into
love-emotional concerns she has dealt with most of her life. Although,
she says she commits to canvas memories never to be forgotten, that same
raw energy appears to be available for quiet forgiveness, hope and images
of peace. Accordingly,
her new series of paintings currently on exhibit at the Orange County
Center for Contemporary Art, are imbued with solidarity and deep compassion
for the destiny of the human race. Last
year's Gulf War opened up familiar floodgates of anguish for her and intense
feelings of fear and helplessness. Transforming these emotions into aggressive
brush strokes of hot colors and broad textural imagery, Ernst simultaneously
conveys passionate anger over the "storm" of war alongside an
idealized vision of unity, sending a heartfelt message with all the riveting
certainty of an electric current. Stepping into Confusion, Ruti Mann, Kibbutz Hamapil, Israel Of
those intense reds and deep blue haze After
the flood of Lunacy in Black and White. |
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Book cover: A Tribute to Fini is the cover of Second Sight
Disc cover: Green Shadow on the cover of Cello Sonatas
Shosh's work displayed in Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University Faculty of the Arts Poetry: Dr. Amira Eran writes about Shosh's work Reviews: Kristin Erekson, The Jewish Advocate, 2006 For Brighton artist Shoshana Ernst, every brushstroke represents small pieces of her own Israeli culture. From vibrantly colored landscapes and the Sea of Galilee to abstract images of the female figure, Ernst believes all the subjects in her paintings bring awareness to those �memories of beauty and pain� that touch her soul... see the full article Reviews: Daniella Walsh, The Orange County Register, 2005 Then again, in the realm of drawing, Shoshana Ernst's "Eve" stands out thanks to its composition and palette. Pastel is a tricky medium and, for the most part, one either masters it as Ernst does or makes a mess.... see the full article Reviews:
Leslie Anderson, The Boston Globe, 2003 When Shoshana Ernst begins a figure painting she starts with realism. But it always evolve into something more abstract, more colorful, and ultimately more full of life than any realismtic portrait could be... see the full article Reviews:
Art Expo Preview, Los Angeles, 1997 A
newcomer to Art Expo LA is Shosh Ernst. Her abstract acrylic and oil paintings,
pastels and Iris prints depict abstract figuration that is full of energy
and emotion. Critically acclaimed exhibitions on both coasts make Ernst
one of the many new artists worth a visit to Art Expo LA. Her most recent
body of work, one of which is pictured here, depicts the artist's interpretation
of Woman... "as Mother, formed of the earth and bearer of the Life
Force, whose inexorable creativity drives her to produce and originate
and construct." Review:
Miri Kubovy, Professor of Near Eastern Civilizations, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts 1997 The
most striking quality of Shosh Ernst's work is her captivating burning
colors. Whether blue or red, they are sheer lava, erupting from the entrails
of earth, reaching directly into the spectator's guts. In her art, color
is transformed into the richest tactile texture which transcends to an
overwhelming emotion. She elevates expression over form, but color becomes
form, similar to the work of the English expressionist Frank Auerbach.
Paint is at one and the same time mass, matter, color, energy and form. Ernst'
most recent semi-abstract works, painted on black, cork-like embossed
paper, disquieting as black boils, evoke excruciating, primeval states
of mind. In her art, earth, blood, flesh, light and fire are inseparable.
With the years her work is more daring, more painterly, her brush or fingers,
more loaded. One is confronted with the passion and freshness of her vision.
Her paintings converse with the spectator with extraordinary vigor, sensuality,
joy, pain and forthrightness. Ann
Abott, Santa Ana Museum of Modern Art Shosh
Ernst likes boldness in her works. "If something looks too quiet
I have to put in some strokes to shake it up," says the Israeli born
artist. This strong physicality is evident in her entire body of work.
A close inspection reveals that Shosh literally scrubs or gouges her paint
onto or off the canvas. Either way, her figures seem almost always faceless.
Sometimes these faceless forms take on mysterious tones that imbue them
with silent power. Some appear haunted or bathed in pathos. But underneath
the mantle of suffering lies a strong commitment to survival . In a word,
the art of Shosh Ernst tells us to "choose life."
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