1994_04 The Daily Collegian April 1994

              Thursday, April 7,1994
P*ge7
Madden Library exhibits
works on two holocausts
By Dipan Mann
THECOLLEGIAN
Ivfontereyn
t resident Ed Leeper
6.000.000 deaths
during the holocaust and about
58.000 during the Pol Pot gov¬
ernment in Cambodia means, to
theworld   \. I
Leeper opened an exhibition
of his works depicting the two
holocausts at the Henry Madden
library Wednesday.
The two works are titled
"6.000.000" and "Killing Fields."
The former, done by Leeper over a
period of three years, contains six
million marks on 4,291 sheets of
heavy paper. The marks represent
the six million Jews murdered by
Hitler and his Nazi regime during
the second world war.
' Leeper is not Jewish and did
not spend time in any or the con¬
centration camps. "I just want
people to see what the dimen¬
sions ofthe holocausts were.
'1 first thought of making six
million marks after visiting the
Vietnam Memorial in Washing¬
ton DC." said Leeper. "1 tried to
imagtn^.a qjmibq-memorial nam¬
ing the six million Jews during
the holocaust," he said. That is ex¬
actly what he did. Putting those six
million marks took 4,292 sheets of
paper that stand 59 inches high, and
251 calligraphy pens.
'1 obtained the names of ap¬
proximately 1,500 Jews on these
sheets from the Simon Weisenthal
Center andabolocaust research cen¬
ter in Warsaw,** he says, f
During November and Decem¬
ber 1991, as a member of Veterans
for Peace, Leeper visited Vietnam
and Cambodia to deliver medical
\ supplies to people in the country¬
side. In Phnom-Penn, Cambodia,
be visited the high school where Pol
Pot tortured thousands of Cambodi¬
ans be considered enemies of the
revolution. After being tortured,
they were marched 10 miles out of
Phnom-Penn and ruthlessly mur¬
dered.-
"These classrooms contained thou¬
sands of mug shots of the victims,''
said Leeper. '1 photographed these
along with the holding center's secu¬
rity regulation arxi incorporated them
intothe'TCillingFields,"he said.
Some of the security regulations
were barbaric. "YOUWILLNOT
SCREAM WHEN BEING
LASHED," reads one of the regula¬
tions Leeper has on display.
*1t was really gruesome,'*
Leepersaid. "Some ofthe regu¬
lations were the most barbaric
that you could ever imagine.''
Leeper says that during a two
andahalfweekperiodinJanuary
and February 1990, he visited the
German concentration camps in
Poland at Belzec, Sobibor,
Majdanek, Auschwitz, Chelmno,
and Treblinka. Pictures that
Leeper took at the. sites are in¬
cluded in the display.
Leeper, 66, a retired army war¬
rant officer, served twice in both
Vietnam and Korea. He says
going back after all these years to
Cambodia as a civilian felt
strange. 'Things seemed to be
the same way they were, in
Phnom-Penn during the revolu¬
tion;*'Leeper said. '1 found the
people really-warm aad affec¬
tionate. It was amazing.''
Leeper will be taking his
works to different colleges and
universities around the state over
the next couple of months.
"Studente are the future lead¬
ers* of tomorrow," he says. *I
want them to realize what has
happened in the past and make
sure they don't let it happen
again."
Spirituality drives
exhibiting local
artist to create
\e\ Bookstore
■ FILM DEVELOPING SPECIAL"
Read
The
Collegian
•
By Brent Batty
THECOLLEGIAN    '
 ' t *
Larger than life faces and bold,
vibrant colors are a common theme
when viewing the paintings of
Rowena Netzley.
A serious artist since 1984,'
Netzley has been a kindergarten
teacher at Baird Elementary School
for more years than she can keep
track.
Netzley is a contributing mem¬
ber to Gallery 25 in downtown
Fresno, and is currently involved
in her third solo exhibition there.
Segments of Netzley's art can
be seen photographed next to the
original.
An outstretched hand pointing
to a mouth or to tile side of a face
are some examples of the photo¬
graphs she places n ex t to her paint¬
ings.
"Do you think your perception
of the whole will be different if
you've seen the^ ^art?" asks
Netzley.
When Netzley takes a picture
of her art with her hand pointing to
a certain part of it, she is empha-
sizing a strong personality trait of
her subject But she Is also reach¬
ing with her hands, reaching spiri¬
tually.
This extra emphasis on her art
is there for a very significant rea¬
son.
Spirituality js the main empha-
, sis and drive for Netzley' s work.
4Tm always striving for free¬
dom of spirit and to be closer to
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1994
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God," she explained
• Since she was a little girl,
Netzley has used her hands to reach
for things, such as-a branch in a
tree climb, and that constant reach¬
ing in life plays a very important
part in her thoughts and art. ^
Although she does hot have an
art degree, Netzley had studied art
at Fresno State University. Her
studies have led to important rela¬
tionships in her life and strong
friendships.
All of Netzley's paintings are
of people she cares about deeply.
One massive painting of a face is
of former FSU art professor Heinz'
Kosel.
The face contains life and
strength. The rich acrylic paint
carries lush skin tones and is
backed by a deep blue. ''    —
This contrast is representative
of an important journey overseas
forKusel.
Acrylic paint and big brushes
are Netzley's main tools.
When proj ects were constan dy
being brought back and forth be¬
tween home and school, a quick
drying paint was needed, so
Netzley settled on acrylic.
Another unique feature of
Netzley's art is her trademark black
and white markings.
Usually represented by a line,
Netzley uses the stark contrast of
' black and white to further her spiri¬
tual images.
The basic black and white col¬
ors are the only ones that can bring
about the absolute feelings that
Netzley has.      >
In a painting of her daughter,
Netzley uses & myriad of colors to
portray an alive, happy feeling,
with a black and white line sur¬
rounding the woman's head
The 1 i ne represents good bless¬
ings.
Netzley shares her art with her
students and encourages" them to
touch and feel the paintings.       '
She says seeing fine art is a
rarity for her students and touch¬
ing it helps them express what
they see.
Netzley's paintings are real ex¬
periences full of stories, images
and warmth.
Netzley has done a superb job
of patching the eye ofthe onlooker,
but if you don't get a chance to
discuss the paintings with her, you
;bave surely missed an important
aspect of them.
Gallery 25,1526 Fulton St.
will host a formal reception and
opportunity to meet die artist from
2-5 p.m. Sunday. April 10.
Normal gallery hours are Fri¬
day, 12-3 pun. and-Saturday and
Sunday 1-4 p.m.
.'