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March 30 – May 18, 2008

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce its latest exhibition Watercolors by Rebecca Bird: Extracting the Exquisite featuring finely executed works on paper which present images extracted from their original context and painted with meticulous detail onto white space. The subjects vary from birds and melting snow, which recall finely detailed botanical illustrations, to explosions divorced from a historical context and re-interpreted in monochromatic color.

The still lifes often resemble nature studies, paying fastidious attention to the contours and tones of the single, central image. All of the subjects, including some inorganic objects such as construction cranes, exist on an empty, white plane interrupted only by the contrasting form of the image rendered in articulate, suffusive color.

The explosion series, executed over a two year span, continues in this vein, focusing solely on images gathered from photographs of actual mushroom clouds, nuclear tests, and even artificial Hollywood explosions. They are extracted and replicated in paint as monotonal compositions, appearing as almost purely abstract shapes. By divorcing the images from their original context, each work takes on a new, and at times, ironic meaning – a mushroom cloud which emerges as something resembling a tree.

Rebecca Bird is a graduate of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States. She has been the recipient of various grants and awards, and has been featured in publications such as ARTFORUM. She lives and works in New York City. The exhibition will be on display from March 30 – May 18, 2008, open daily from 10am – 4pm free of charge.

As a member of the American Association of Museums, The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is committed to displaying fine art and houses a permanent collection comprised of 20th century and contemporary art including prints, paintings, photographs, and sculpture, as well as The Judaica Museum which exhibits art and artifacts from Jewish life and culture. The Home is a nonprofit, non-sectarian geriatric center serving more than 3,000 elderly persons through its resources and community service programs. Its 19-acre main campus, which also features a sculpture garden, overlooks the Hudson River and Palisades. For further information regarding the exhibition or the Hebrew Home’s art collection, please contact the Art Department at (718) 581-1596 or Public Relations Department at (718) 581-1225.