Names

Last year I went with one of my best friends Sam Goodman, who has always been a supporter of my passion for art and is a phenomenal artist himself, to his winter formal in Toronto. During our one break from partying I convinced him and some friends to come with me to The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), where I fell in love with a piece that is of the Gestural Abstract Expressionist vein.

Quick art history lesson: There are two types of Abstract Expressionism, Colorfield and Gestural. Colorfield Ab-Ex is characterized by the presence of large, flat planes of color – think Mark Rothko. On the other hand, Gestural Ab-Ex is focused on the artist’s movement across the canvas – Pollock being the popular example.

For a long time after our trip, I thought about the beautiful piece that was made up of large gestures in deep reds, burgundies, and oranges on a (creamy) white, almost unfinished background, with bits of contrasting light aqua blue unexpectedly thrown in. However, I couldn’t recall the name of the artist, or the painting for that matter. I kept my eye out for word on the artist in the NYTimes arts section and all of the popular art magazines, to no avail. This morning I took it upon myself to Google every artist listed on MOCCA’s website, and guess what? I didn’t find an image of the exact piece from MOCCA that I loved so very much, but I found the artist!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present Deborah Friedman. *

And Deborah Freedman.

And… Deborah Freedman!

Oh and lastly, Debbie Friedman!

Let me explain. During my search for Deborah Friedman, the Michigan based artist whose work I saw at MOCCA, I found two other awesome artists and was reminded of a used-to-be favorite singer/songwriter, all of whom have the same name, (though different spellings).

The first, a writer and illustrator of children’s books and poems, who uses a super fine point black ink pen and minimal colors to create quirkily detailed, paradoxically sophisticated yet child-like drawings. In 2007, this Deborah wrote a children’s book called Scribble that won a ton of awards. Lack of English book stores here in Venice has prevented me from seeing the entirety of the book, but the sneak peak that can be seen on Deborah’s website (www.deborahfreedman.net), indicates that the book is about children creating art and the coming to life of a scribble – looks adorable. However, she's also made freestanding illustrations of nursery rhymes and hymns, and creations from her own imagination. The one to the right is from her Montage series. Oh and her blog (www.deborahfreedman.wordpress.net) is also great, especially because she features a clip from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), my all time favorite kids’ book!

The second, a New York City based artist, who creates richly hued abstract landscapes that seem to have emotional depth emanating from the colors. Though some of her works appear to have white mixed in to lighten colors, and thereby the feeling, a tactic that I am not a fan of because I don’t find pastels aesthetically pleasing, I do like the work to the left called West Shokan (2007). The profile on her website (www.deborahfreedman.com) indicates that she has exhibited works at a large number of big name galleries and museums, though I don’t recall ever seeing her art… But you know how that is, once you learn about someone / something you begin to see it everywhere…

And lastly, good old Debbie Friedman, creator of the all time greatest (Jewish) hit: Mordechai the wonderful, wonderful, Mordechai he’s so handsome and pretty he’s our favorite hero in all of Shushan City… Oh and even better, I am a latka, I’m a latka and I am waiting for Hanukkah to come… Okay, okay those two were favorites of the Kurzweil children, (and I say Kurzweil as apposed to Kula deliberately because while Mom was a fan, Abba was certainly not,) but not Debbie Friedman’s greatest hits by any stretch. Debbie Friedman’s most well known songs are probably her version of Mi Sheberach, a traditional Jewish healing prayer, and Not By Might – Not By Power. I tried to find some good Youtube clips of these songs for you, and though I was so moved by some of her songs that I practically cried, my roommates nearly killed me, which lead me to believe I’d be best off allowing all of you Jews out there to seek her out on Itunes at your own discretion, and all of you non-Jews to just go listen to some Joan Baez instead.

So, there must be something about the name Deborah Friedman / Freedman, that inspires creativity. After all, Freakenomics authors Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt do have all those sociological, socioeconomic theories about the power of names…

*Check out more of Deborah Friedman’s works on her website, www.deborahfriedman.com. I’m particularly enamored by her series Changes and Windows/Alpha. Perhaps I can convince you to go to her website by telling you that the vividness of the flame colors in the first work from Changes is extraordinary, and the only reason I didn't feature that work is because when I copied it into my blog the colors faded. (And actually the colors of the work I posted are also faded.)

1. Deborah Friedman, Changes. Oil on Wood Panel.
2. Deborah Freedman, Lollis. Pen, Ink, and Watercolor.
3. Deborah Freedman, West Shokan, 2007. Oil on Canvas.