more conversations in clay - 1984

Foreword

The work of Lea Majaro-Mintz achieves an integration between art and life, an integration enhanced by merging the character of her artistic creation and the manner of its display. Her involvement in the world of reality is reflected in her particular artistic expression, while, in turn, her art exercises an influence on life itself. Hers is an intimate art; it opens a door to the inner depths of the human world. The viewer undergoes a strong emotional experience when he faces an art like this which speaks of his vulnerability—of his times of weakness, his painful eagerness to create relationships with others, his prospects of future old age — all those moments in the lives of human beings, especially women, which are repressed and hidden from view.

Lea’s way of presenting her work also contributes to her artistic message. Her studio, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and visited by thousands of the public who return again and again, is an unusual phenomenon in the local art establishment. The unheroic approach that characterizes her creations is enhanced by the homely background of the studio; both help establish the intimate character of her work. If one defines “Women’s Art’’ as a manifestation of unheroic values in depictions of everyday life, then Lea Majaro-Mintz gives it full expression.

Another special trait of Majaro-Mintz’s art is the energy, vitality, and creativity that seem to flood the place, spilling over from the studio area into the living space, turning art and life into one

entity. Sculptures stand on the table, scatter about beneath it, and protrude from every alcove. Sculptures that are women—or women that are sculptures—lounge in armchairs, melt over the steps, climb the bookshelves, and even reach the ceiling. There they picnic in grand style, their cars parked alongside them, while the real people sit in the Livingroom below, gazing up at their ceramic reflection.

Some of these pieces will soon find a new abode in Neve-Zedek, the birthplace of Tel-Aviv, in a house of charm and atmosphere. Recently declared an historic site, the house was built ninety-five years ago by Shimon

Rokach, who dreamed of a Jewish suburb outside old Jaffa. Lea Majaro-Mintz, his granddaughter, undertook to restore the house in order to perpetuate the family name, assist in establishing an art center in Neve-Zedek, and create a new space for her art.