Page 20 Thursday, February 22, 2007 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION Kean Art Exhibit Remembers WAA Member Hella Bailin By MARYLOU MORANO Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times Jennifer Mazza’s Work Carries AREA – For nearly 90 years, artist Hella Bailin touched the lives of all who had the good fortune to know her. Now, nearly a year after her April ‘Scarlet Intent’ at UCC’s Tomasulo 2006 death, the essence of her extraor- By MARYLOU MORANO kind of story: that of the forbidden Mason Gross School of the Arts. dinary life – as a teacher, a world trav- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times fruit, the unspoken word, the face She is the recipient of an Individual eler, a humanitarian and, above all, a CRANFORD – Her artwork is shrouded by the veil. Artist Fellowship from the New Jer- distinguished artist – can be seen and small in size and dwarfed by the In many of the works comprising sey State Council for the Arts, and she felt at a retrospective exhibit presently pristine gallery walls surrounding “Scarlet Intent,” images are there and has exhibited her work in various at CAS Gallery at Kean University. it. then they are not. Ms. Mazza has an galleries throughout New York and Mrs. Bailin’s children and grand- But the messages projected by figu- explanation for the dichotomy of her New Jersey. children organized “Hella Bailin: Vis- rative painter Jennifer Mazza’s cre- work. She says, “…[In] sadness, there The Tomasulo Gallery is located in ceral Impressions,” which is curated ativity are multiplied many times over can be pleasure; in happiness, pain; in the Kenneth Campbell MacKay Li- by Professor Neil Tetkowski, Kean’s the physical size of the individual violence, humor.” brary on the Cranford Campus of director of university galleries. “My work portrays this varied ex- Union County College, located at The exhibit represents the first perience by combining rich color and 1033 Springfield Avenue. showing of her work since her death, luscious handling of paint with imag- Contact the gallery at (908) 709- and it showcases 39 of the more than ery that appears both sensuous and 7155 for hours. For more information 2,000 oil paintings, watercolors and Courtesy of Sarah Bailin painful.” about Ms. Mazza, visit jenmazza.com. drawings created by Mrs. Bailin dur- LEAVING A ‘VISCERAL IMPRESSION’...Kean University will honor the life Partial facial features and fingers of artist Hella Bailin, who, for nearly 90 years, touched many lives as a teacher, feature predominately in Ms. Mazza a world traveler, a humanitarian and, above all, a distinguished artist. pieces, many of which are, as the ing her lifetime. of instruction was direct and to the exhibit’s name implies, dominated Vic’s Picks “This exhibit is a celebration of point…One of her particular pet by the color red. Hella Bailin’s life and art,” grand- peeves was ‘too much fussiness.’ She “By focusing on the interaction The Darkness: Permission to Rock daughter Sarah Bailin said. “For her, was encouraging and told me what between body and object, or body they were one and the same.” was right with my paintings but never Jennifer Mazza – “Scarlet Intent” and body, my paintings explore the By VICTORIA McCABE remember me? I used to sit next to Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, in hesitated to point out the short pieces of her artwork. tension and tenderness that com- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times you at school/We’d indulge in all the 1915, the artist began her studies at comings,” Ms. Johnson added. Ms. Mazza’s exhibit “Scarlet In- prise the compacted relationships Looking at The Darkness is like extracurricular activities, we weren’t the Berlin Art Academy and the “She had the ‘old school’ approach tent” is on display at Union County between persons and between one’s looking through a time machine. particularly cool.” Hawkins then lists Reiman School. to criticism,” Mr. Bailin said. “She College’s Tomasulo Galery through self and one’s own body,” Ms. Mazza There’s the long hair. There’s the every kind of club from badminton She fled Nazi Germany for the was the hardest on those students she March 3. said. wardrobe that looks like it was lifted to bridge club to needlework, and all United States in 1937, eventually set- liked the best.” Many of the artist’s oils on canvas In addition to her oil paintings, from Aerosmith’s old closets. There’s roads lead to “dancing on a Friday tling in New Jersey, marrying and Throughout her lifetime, Mrs. Bailin are smaller in size than a standard several gouache on paper drawings frontman Justin Hawkins. night with you.” The song is as catchy having two children – a son, Michael was the recipient of more than 100 piece of computer paper. of red coral are part of “Scarlet In- Hawkins leaps around with his as the lyrics are silly, propelled by and daughter, Bobbi. awards for her work from such notable Only a gifted artist is able to cap- tent.” over-the-top falsetto matched only some great guitar work and She resided in Union from 1954 organizations as the Allied Artists of ture the essence of expression within The artist holds a Bachelor of Arts by his over-the-top appearance – he’s Hawkins’s unique vocals. until shortly before her death. America, The American Watercolor such small dimensions. degree in Studio Art from Mary Wash- got a starved look that fits with his “Permission to Land” is like a great After relocating to New Jersey, Mrs. Society and the National Society of Their unique size forces Ms. ington College and a Master of Fine one-piece jumpsuits reminiscent of musical joke where you’re not ex- Bailin continued her artistic studies at Painters in Casein and Acrylic. Mazza’s paintings to tell a different Arts degree from Rutgers University’s an early Steven Tyler or Robert Plant. actly sure if they’re joking or serious. Newark School of Fine and Industrial The New Jersey Watercolor Soci- And then there’s the music. If they’re joking, they really pull it off Arts, where she trained under ceramist ety awarded her the Silver Medal of The boys of The Darkness bring well. If they’re serious…well…they and painter John Grabach, Russian– Honor, its highest award. back seventies and eighties hair metal really pull it off well. The element of born painter and li- Mrs. Bailin was a 20-year member of in a big way. Their concept could be a the ridiculous is what makes the Dark- thographer Bernard the Westfield Art As- disaster wide open to mockery, but ness so alluring, and by the time you’ve Gussow and portrait- sociation. She is listed the songs on their debut, “Permission finished laughing at their dated quirki- ist E. Stanley in “Who’s Who in to Land,” are good enough to make ness, it’s hard to get their songs out of Turnbull. American Art,” and their time-travel sound not only per- your head. Her art was her works have been missible, but strangely enthralling. Fans of This is Spinal Tap, hair strongly influenced published in six vol- Singles “Get Your Hands Off My metal or unitards, look no further – by these mentors, as umes of “Best in Wa- Woman” and “I Believe in a Thing The Darkness has landed. well as by other well- tercolor.” Her paint- Called Love” earned the band some known artists. Kean ings have been exhib- serious chatter, especially off of the Town Book Store University art histo- Iberian Landscape ited in museums in strange spaceship adventure of the rian and professor New Jersey, through- latter’s odd music video. Donates 643 Books Robert Yoskowitz has compared Mrs. out the United States and abroad. Cuts like “Growing on Me” and WESTFIELD – Former President Bailin’s work to Gustave Courbet, “For as much as she derived satisfac- “Givin’ Up” are instant attention Kathleen O’Neill Lynch of the Junior Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. tion from selling her art, it was equally grabbers, with hooks that could have League of Elizabeth-Plainfield accepted Several of Mrs. Bailin’s pieces dat- as important to her for the work to be in stood out in the genre’s heyday. an invitation to the Westfield Town ing to the time she studied with Mr. the public view,” Mr. Bailin said. The Darkness’s 2005 sophomore Book Store’s moving sale upon learn- Grabach are part of “Visceral Im- “Hella Bailin: Visceral Impres- album failed to recreate the electric- ing that any leftover children’s books pressions.” sions” will be on exhibit at CAS Gal- ity that shoots through their debut, would be donated to a worthy cause. Prolific in watercolor, casein, oil lery at Kean University until March and last fall, Hawkins left the band. When former storeowner Grace Roth and pen and ink, Mrs. Bailin described 9. The gallery is located in the Center Susan M. Dougherty for The Westfield Leader and The Times VISUAL ART, MUSIC AND WORDS COMBINE…As a Yugoslavian woman, So “Permission to Land” might be said a cause had not yet been identified, herself as an expressionist. for Academic Success building. Kean Carla Phoenix recounts the haunting experience of being raped by soldiers who the best we’ll ever get, but the album Ms. O’Neill Lynch informed her about Forever in search of the human University is located at 1000 Morris invaded her village while fellow actress Noelle Tate, left, ponders the weighty words.