Guild Artists
Phyllis Altman |
Avrum Ashery Avi studied at the Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh and later at Gratz Hebrew College in addition to graduating from the University of Tulsa with a degree in Visual Communications. Upon completing his army service in 1968, Avy developed a dual career in visual communication for both the federal government and the American Jewish community. While Art Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and later Walter Reed Medical Center, he continuously developed special designs for numerous synagogues, federations, day schools and organizations. What began as important visual communications projects such as logos for corporate identity purposes, Jewish Book Month posters and large exhibits about Israel slowly evolved into Judaic fine arts that resulted in Judaic gallery exhibits and special synagogue commissions of stained glass ark doors and windows. Avy uses a simple logo style of illustration with a “ground image” approach where negative space projects a second image or Hebrew letterforms take on a secondary image. This direction is in total contrast to what has been considered traditional Jewish art. One of his earliest illustrations called “The Prayer” was banned in the USSR since 1978 giving the “refuseniks” a strong sense of hope toward their liberation. In 1996, his National Jewish Bicentennial Design was presented at the White House and now is in the Smithsonian collection. Avy was past President of the former Jewish Folk Arts Society, the largest Jewish cultural arts society in the U.S. and has been an active member of ArtSites. He feels that in these days of “cultural diversity,” Jews need to learn about and support their cultural artists as other ethnic groups already have done. Through teaching Jewish studies, his hobby, he hopes to share and mold positive Jewish values in his students and an emotional and esthetic sense of Jewish pride in the community. |