By Susie Davidson
Special to the Advocate
On Oct. 10, an interested crowd of observers gathered at Boston University Hillel's Rubin-Frankel Gallery for the opening of Brookline-based artist Fay Grajower's mixed media installation "Where the Past Meets the Future."
Over 100 of Grajower's colorfully painted wooden frames are grouped together as a mosaic wall for the exhibit, which also includes larger pieces, all reflecting pre-war and post-Communist Poland, Jewish and personal history, through the concept of what Grajower terms "inherited memory."
Grajower, who studied at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, is descended from three generations of prominent judges in the court of Jewish law in Krakow. She earned a master's degree in Studio Art from New York University. Although her family members were affected by the Holocaust, Grajower said during the presentation that she does not prefer to herself as a Holocaust artist, but rather an interpreter of history.
Among her many commissioned works are a Holocaust Memorial at Young Israel in New Rochelle, New York and an inaugural exhibit at the El Paso Holocaust Museum in Texas.
"Fay brings color, happiness and reality into the world through her art," said attendee Rabbi Joseph Polak, Rabbi Emeritus for B.U. Hillel.
"She weaves the texture of history into heartfelt shapes that convey the melding of past and future in a Judaic context," added Rosian Zerner, a Holocaust survivor also in attendance.
"I found it very inspiring and profound," said Aaron Feuerstein, former head of Malden Mills. He then pointed out a glossy favorite that interspersed a checkerboard layer, two ghostly figures, and parquet floor squares to his granddaughter Aeffia.
The exhibit, which was created as an installation for the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, will continue through December 20. For more information and to see Grajower's work, visit http://www.bu.edu/hillel/gallery/WherethePastMeetstheFuture.htm.