Second Vision for Artists Who Lose Sense of Sight, Arts News & Top Stories



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NEW YORK • Pablo Picasso probably did not think of macular degeneration when he said: "Every child is an artist, the problem is how to stay an artist while growing up."

Serge Hollerbach, 94, artist born in Russia in Manhattan.

Hollerbach painted through all aspects of his vision loss caused by macular degeneration, a disease that often affects people in their twilight years. central vision and leaving the most blind legally, but with some remains of view.

Can they stay creative? As Hollerbach's vision began to deteriorate in 1994, his work shifted from realism with a dose of expressionism to something more abstract.

The definite forms give way to something more cowardly. The colors changed the speeds from muted to brilliant. Hollerbach's rigid perfectionism also dropped when his eyesight faded, "like water in the eyes after swimming," he says.

"There is a second childhood," he added, explaining how his paintings changed. "To be playful, you have nothing to lose, nothing to lose is a kind of new freedom."

The pre- and post-macular degeneration work of eight artists, including Hollerbach and the late Lennart Anderson and Hedda Sterne, are the exhibition The Persistence Of Vision of the University of Cincinnati

explores the versatility of the artists – shown in early and late works – by adapting their styles to the loss of vision and, in cases like Hollerbach, experienced. "The late works are beautiful," said Brian Schumacher, curator of the show at the Philip M. Meyers Jr Memorial Gallery at the University, where he is an assistant professor of design. "They present themselves as viable, legitimate and beautiful visual art works."

Hollerbach's response to his illness was a turning point in the game – perhaps a reflection of relentless optimism that had helped him survive the Nazi labor camps.

His work continues to reflect a shift to social justice and his fascination with everyday life through crowded street scenes in New York City, including the homeless of the city

. In the studio, he was holding a plastic cup within one centimeter of his face

"It's blue, is not it?" he asked. Yes, and he was going to create water in a crowded beach scene.

It was a back-and-forth process as he placed the canvas on a flat table to apply acrylic paint so that it would not drip.

"I can not really see what I'm doing," he admitted, adding, "I'll look at it later."

He put the canvas back on the easel and made a long wrinkling. He did not seem too impressed.

"But it's freedom," he said, continuing to paint.

Among the other artists in the series is the late David Levine, whose The Last Battle is an incomplete work. Instead of detailed faces like those on Coney Island's early beach scenes, he stood silhouettes and skipped details on the clothes.

The charcoal lines were drawn and redrawn as he struggled with his new limits. said his son, Matthew. He watched as the play unfolded around 2004 as his father's vision retreated.

"He became more and more obsessed with the idea of ​​drawing these figures and less and less happy in his ability to use the extension line of the larger Vision And Art project, a research and development project. of conservation funded by the American Macular Degeneration Foundation

"It is good that other artists know that these resources are available, so they do not feel isolated," said Mrs. A & Dora Phillips , director of the project and the other conservator of the broadcast

NYTIMES

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