Roosevelt art exhibition honors famous artist
Other Roosevelt artists also have work on exhibit
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

ROOSEVELT — The Roosevelt Arts Project and Rosa Giletti Fine Art are once again bringing an art happening to Roosevelt, where so many artists, past and present, have discovered a supportive environment.

The third annual Jacob Landau Studio event includes an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Landau’s dome studio on Lake Drive, followed at 8 p.m. by a concert by David Brahinsky and Friends.

Called “Tying the Past to the Present,” the exhibition will include the works of Landau and other Roosevelt artists such as Sol Libsohn, Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Gabrielle Balon, Naomi Brahinsky, Jim Hayden, Tristen Herrstrom, Robert Mueller, Amanda Slamm, Jonathan Shahn and Peter Vince.

It will also feature works by some Pennsylvania-based artists.

As usual, the exhibition encompasses a diversity of styles and themes reflective of the unique community of artists living in Roosevelt since the time when Landau was painting in his dome house on Lake Drive.

Landau, who moved to Roosevelt in 1954, died on Nov. 24, 2001. He is buried in the tiny Roosevelt Cemetery next to other artists, including Ben Shahn, who had also lived in the community. Landau has been called one of the foremost American artists of the 20th century, and

his art has long been recognized for the contribution it has made to the world.

“I have a strong sense of how man’s inhumanity to man has worked to create the kind of society we live in,” the artist said in March 1999 at his retrospective exhibit at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia.

About his art, Landau said, “Drawing and color are the twin fundaments of my style.”

Artist Jim Hayden, a fairly recent Roosevelt resident, said he has been inspired by diverse artists such as Landau. He works mostly in acrylics on canvas and occasionally in multimedia.

“I enjoy the challenges of sculpture, graphic, stencil and carvings,” he said.

Another Roosevelt artist with works in the show, Gabrielle Balon, said she considers her work visual and textural.

“They are meant to be touched — and in some cases, shaken,” she said, adding, “I like to play with surface and to mix organic and industrial materials.”

Balon has three pieces in the exhibit. One piece is a 15-by-15-inch carved, mahogany chessboard. In her other pieces, Balon uses 23-carat gold and fine-silver leafings, semiprecious stones, and painted iron and copper all finished with butcher’s wax.

Robert Emmett Mueller, a Homestead Lane resident, will have at least three watercolors on display. All are part of a series called “Schema.” He considers his work as minimalist and said that it “wander[s] around visual ideas, searching for what Miquel de Cervantes called ‘the rare and strange designs which idle curiosity had taught.’ ”

The exhibition continues from noon until 3 p.m. Oct. 10, featuring a 2 p.m. discussion with David Herrstrom on “The Art of Jacob Landau.”

Herrstrom and Landau had been neighbors since 1975 when Herrstrom moved into the town. Landau and Herrstrom helped found the Roosevelt Arts Project, and Landau was its first president.

Also on Sunday, a second annual memorial dinner will be held from 4-8 p.m. at Basil’s Legends Grill, 460 Route 33 east, located in the Day’s Inn in East Windsor, which is owned by executive chef Basil Karakatsanis and his wife, Renée.

Jacob Landau was a regular visitor, and this dinner is in his honor, said the executive chef, adding that it is “Greek cuisine for the Olympian, Jacob.”

In order to promote the continued visibility of Landau’s art, Giletti established the Jacob Landau Legacy Preservation. Donations help to maintain the Jacob Landau Studio, which remains open for visitors.

Proceeds will benefit the Jacob Landau Legacy Preservation Trust. For reservations or further information, call (609) 443-5565

In addition, on Oct. 16-17, the Dome will be open from noon to 3 p.m., and private appointments will be available until Oct. 30.

To schedule a visit, contact Rosa Giletti at (215) 368-2536 or rosagiletti@aol.com