Exhibitions and competitions by FRED MANASSE – July 1, 2010
In all of my sculpture I want to let my passions and emotions dominate the pieces I create rather than slavishly trying to make accurate representations of what I see directly. I have worked in both wet and oil based clays and wax but normally work in oil based clay. Molds are then made and cast in fiber-glass, cement, plaster or bronze. About two years ago I began to work in granite and marble so as to be able to create large sculpture for outdoor works. My eventual goal is to learn to sculpt figuratively and in more abstract ways in many different media including clay, wood and stone so as to create more meaningful sculptures.
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Juried Competitions and Exhibitions
Although, I had previously shown some of my stained glass and ceramics work to members of my men’s group and at one open studio in Newton, as well as participating in a group exhibition at Millbrook Gallery in Concord NH in the summer of 2007, I only joined several Art Associations beginning in 2008. I have now begun to enter their formal juried competitions and exhibitions. In 2008, I was juried into the Cape Cod Nationals competition and exhibited one of my bronze nudes “Lee-a-la Mer” at the Cape Cod Art Association gallery in Barnstable MA. In their in 2009 Nationals Exhibition, I won an Honorable mention in sculpture for my piece on the holocaust which relates to my early family history in wartime Europe, “My diaspora”. In 2010, I won third place for the same piece in the Bonnar Exhibition, held in Watertown’s ALMA gallery, a competition sponsored by the Newton Art Association,
Special Exhibitions
Because of my Holocaust experience it has become one of my passions to create abstract sculpture relating to it and exhibiting it in appropriate places. I have had several invited opportunities to show my dedicated work related to the Holocaust over the last 5 years. I began by participating in an Exhibition at the Dante Alighieri Society to commemorate the UN International Genocide Day in 2007. I have exhibited with 9 other artists, some of my related sculpture at an Exhibition held at the Hebrew College’s Cutler Atrium in Newton, MA, “Artists Confront the Holocaust during October-December, 2009, an exhibition which I also curated, in association with a conference by 400 child survivors which was held in Newton’s Marriott Hotel.
I spoke and exhibited my work at the Yom Hashoah commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz Memorial Day in New Bedford in April, 2010. Earlier on that day I also exhibited my work in Temple Mishkan Tefilah at their commemoration of the same event.
Other Exhibitions
As a member of several art associations I have opportunities to show my work in special member shows. I exhibit in Cape Cod every year, as well as in Newton. Most recently, all in 2010, I entered one of my stained glass works, “Lovebirds” in a show at the Scandinavian Living Center. I also participated with several of my Beaumont Sculpture Group sculpting colleagues at the New Art Center in association with the 2010 Newton Open Studios. There I exhibited most of my figurative and abstract sculptures as well as 2 stained glass pieces (about 14 pieces of my work in all). I also participated by entering 2 of my sculptures in the Newton Senior Center’s art exhibition held in the Newton Town Hall Rotunda in June.
