Featured on NJN State of the Arts
bette blank Bette Blank has a Ph.D. in Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, but her art is about the emotions and feelings of everyday life. In 2000, Blank gave up her day job to pursue painting full-time. According to the artist, it was her mother’s death which caused her finally to pursue her dream – and it prompted her to create a painting as well, “Tug of War.” In it, Blank depicted her mother’s hospital room, filled with family, medical personnel, and angels, as showing the “struggle between the living, loved ones and her dead, loved ones (angels.)” Family memories, popular culture (“Annunciation of the War in Iraq” – as seen on TV in a nail salon), and Bible stories are some of Blank’s favorite themes. State of the Arts producer Susan Wallner visits some of sites of Blank’s paintings with her – including a nail salon and two of her favorite restaurants in her hometown of Madison, New Jersey. Although her style has a naïve look, Blank has studied art at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art and the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts among other places. A resident of Madison, New Jersey, she has had solo shows in New York and New Jersey, and her work is in the permanent collection of The Jewish Museum in New York.
where to see
Bette Blank’s work is included in
• 2007 New Jersey Arts Annual: Fine Arts
through July 15, 2007
The Noyes Museum of Art, 733 Lily Lake Road, Oceanville, NJ
609-652-8848, www.noyesmuseum.org
http://www.njn.net/artsculture/starts/season06-07/2507.html#1
