The Jewish National Fund Art & Design Circle is hosting an art exhibition and mixer event Thursday, October 21 at The Ohm in West Chelsea. The event will feature artists Jac Lahav, Ari Lankin, and Jaymie Stein. All three artists will be exhibiting never before seen works. Great art, great people, a gorgeous lounge, open bar and refreshments will culminate into an event that you won’t want to miss. All proceeds from the event will go to the JNF’s Blueprint Negev campaign. The Blueprint Negev campaign is an initiative to develop the Negev Desert in a sustainable manner and make it home to the next generation of Israel’s residents. Green is good. Take a look at the JNF Blueprint Negev website for more information on this powerful campaign. The Ohm, is a brand new building in West Chelsea with every amenity you could ever ask for. Visiting the building itself is quite an experience.

Below is a sample of the artists’ work. Check back soon for work by Jaymie Stein.

Jac Lahav -

Ari Lankin -

Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 7-9PM
The Ohm
312 11th Avenue (at 30th Street)
New York City

Suggested donation is $40 dollars and please try to RSVP. We understand if you can not meet the suggested amount but please be respectful and chip in whatever you can. All proceeds benefit a great cause.

Come on by with your friends, meet new friends, see this impressive new building, and talk with the artists.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 19th to Jessica Siskind at 212.879.9305 ext. 506, or jsiskind@jnf.org. If you forget to RSVP or decide at the last moment to come that is ok, please don’t let it discourage you from coming.

For more information please contact Gabrielle Carlin, 212.879.9305 ext. 50 or gcarlin@jnf.org.

PRESS RELEASE -

Jaymie Stein Green attended Douglass College, Rutgers University for her undergraduate education.  She worked for arts education non-profits in New Jersey before enrolling at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University for her Master’s degree in art and art education.  Jaymie continues to study in the art education program at TC as a Ziegfeld Scholar, working toward an EdM. She works as the art teacher at North Star Academy Middle School in Newark, New Jersey.

ARTIST STATEMENT: My work is a reflection of my experiences in this world.  I first started to paint in college, but soon discovered performance art and video art. More recently, I have been drawn to etching and other printmaking. As an art educator, I often find myself exploring topics that are unresolved in my own head as well as within our human community. I make work that confronts the viewer (and myself) to think about difficult issues, like war and privilege. I am inspired by my students, some of who live vulnerable lives. I make art because it fulfills my soul. I believe that art exists because it fills all of our souls…it is a language by which all of humanity can communicate.

Ari Lankin received his BFA in Painting and Economics from Brandeis University.  He was born and raised in rural West Chester, PA, but it is New York City that has been his home and inspiration for the last six years.  His painting process values risk-taking, wisdom, intuition, and chance.   He directly relates these qualities to how we experience life and the self.  Concerns with systems, dreams, chaos/order, realities, memory, and relational flow can be read in his work. Lankin sees nature as a constant visual, physical, and spiritual influence.  He likens the physicality of painting, with its perpetual erosion and malleability, to that of the earth.  “Every mark of creation is an equal mark of destruction.  This duality exists in all things.”  Lankin’s signature forms, both invented and appropriated, enable the viewer to interpret the imagery based on their own life experience.
Emotional Architecture is about the human psyche, or perhaps the universal psyche in all things – a psyche that is at once, focused on one moment, and at other times a reflection of all existence. These carved-out and built-up spaces are places of habitation and avenues of exploration. Lankin says, “there is a magical moment which exists between the change from one thing to another.” These moments relate to the human experience, moments of growth, transition, relation, stillness, movement, departure, and choice.  Lankin’s choreographed cords and arranged connections of plugs are both a metaphor for inter-human relationships, and our growing dependence on electronic devices. While working on these paintings he was particularly interested in how both electronic communication, and painting, bridge the gap of space and time. “We are at a decisive moment in how our generation adopts ever increasing new technologies. I keep reaching for a similar energy of exponential expansion while creating.”

Abshalom Jac Lahav is an Brooklyn based painter. Born in Jerusalem Israel, he recently completed an MFA from Brooklyn College (CUNY). His work combines conceptual series and realistic painting to create an amalgam of personal and group identity. Mr. Lahav has been exhibited in solo and group shows both in New York and internationally. His work has been included in numerous museum shows including The Jewish Museum NY, and with solo shows at the Oregon Jewish Museum and the Jewish Museum of Florida. His new work “The Great Americans” will be exhibited at the Richmond Art Museum in 2011 and the South Dakota Museum of Art in 2013.

The Jewish Naional Fund Art & Design Circle