A healthy expression

03 October 2010 - 02:00

By Robyn Sassen

A guitarist stands between a flautist and a harpist. They're made of cutlery and are but one aspect of the creativity of sexologist Bernard Levinson, an exhibitor at the 35th annual Health Professionals Art Group show which opens on Wednesday.

Levinson was born in Johannesburg in the 1920s then raised till adolescence in Chicago before returning to South Africa. He sculpts and writes poetry and monographs.

"There is only one of me," he confirms; his prolific repertoire makes this hard to believe.

Trained under the legendary painter and printmaker Pino Cattaneo in the '70s, Levinson "so enjoyed working in the round" he started sculpting. He graduated in medicine in 1951 from Wits University and specialised in psychiatry and later sexology.

"I have a theory about why medical graduates make art," Levinson says. "Ours is the only faculty where, early on, you are pushed to use your right brain - the intuitive, speculative, lateral side. This is changing because of the gallop of technology into medicine.

"A few (members of) this art group, like plastic surgeon Lawrence Chait, are professional artists. This year's exhibitors include dentists and pharmacists as well as occupational therapists.

"The association hosts one show annually. It does not exclude retired practitioners; at one point, it was in danger of becoming a geriatric society," he says with a laugh. It is national and boasts membership of 200; a student association feeds it.

This year, Levinson shows two pieces - a bronze and a ceramic. The criteria is that the work should not have been exhibited before. "Here she is." He brings out his blue-glazed ceramic. "She's called Finally, the Fat Lady Sings."

The fat lady in question sits astride a fatter horse: she has a small head, evoking work by Francesco Bortero or Henry Moore. "I'm influenced by everything I see." Looking at his art collection, which includes Ashante figures, mud sculptures by kids on the road, paintings by artists ranging from his wife, Sheila Jarzin, to Judith Mason, he clearly sees a lot.

"Look at her," he declares, stroking a clay pregnant torso. "She's a vase. Here," he indicates a bronze figure on a swing, "I planned to capture a moment in time. And in this, which I made this morning," he rushes from room to room, art at hand, "I'm playing with what Matisse did with coloured papers. It's about little effort yielding tremendous fun; you can go crazy with interpretation."

The Adcock Ingram Health Professions Art Group's 35th annual exhibition is at the Adler Museum in Parktown from October 6 until October 29. Call 011 717 2081 for details.