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Through Art, Plastic
Surgeon Makes A Creative Nip
BY MICHELE HERRMANN
Friday, October 07, 2005
Plastic surgery and art go hand in hand for Dr. Jeffrey
Rosenthal. As a plastic surgeon, he compares the
steadiness and precision required in his profession to a
sculptor carefully carving a piece of stone or metal
into a finished masterpiece. "Once you make a cut you
can't go back," Rosenthal said. "You have to plan ahead
and conceptualize what you want." Describing himself as
a self-taught artist, Rosenthal has extended his
creative merits beyond using carving tools. Along with
sculpturing in metal, copper or stone, he paints, writes
poetry, takes photographs and even mats and frames his
paintings and pictures.
"I guess it's a little obsessive, but it's my art and I
want it to be representative of me," Rosenthal said. His
work graces the interior of his Kings Highway Cutoff
office. His pieces have been displayed at public venues
too, such as Fairfield University's Thomas J. Walsh Art
Gallery, in August 2002, and Gallerie Je Reviens in
Westport, in June 2004, and overseas at a gallery in
Fanjeaux, France, with French artist Mogart, also during
last year. A sample of his paintings and photography
will be on view and available for purchase starting this
Friday, Oct. 7, and continuing through Friday, Dec. 30
at the Discovery Museum, 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport.
The public is welcome to an opening benefit reception
Friday, Oct. 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the museum. A
portion of the art proceeds will be donated to the
museum and the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center.
Rosenthal decided to show his art publicly after his
patients said they wanted to see more of his work than
what could be displayed in his office. All of his public
exhibitions have aided and acknowledged the center, to
which Rosenthal has a personnel connection. A close
family relative, who has diagnosed with breast cancer,
received treatment there. He added that he also wants
other women to learn about the center.
"I saw how nurturing and caring the center was for
women, who were in need of that, at that time in their
lives, when [they] are going through chemotherapy," said
Rosenthal. "The people who work there are caring and
giving. I have always been appreciative of what they did
and I want to give back to them." Rosenthal had been in
talks with the Discovery Museum about showing his art
there, according to the museum's Executive Director
Linda Malkin. The late Norma F. Pfriem, whom the Breast
Care Center is named after, was a museum trustee who
funded the addition of a food court and donated money to
help to finish the completion of the museum's
kitchen-catering facility, according to Malkin.
This exhibit marks the first time that Rosenthal will
have his art for sale, a tough decision for him to make.
Rosenthal said he prefers not to sell his originals
"because they are one of a kind," he noted, but added
that the choice to do so resulted from his home and
office becoming inundated with artwork. Along with
paintings and photographs, glicees will be on display.
Glicees are similar to images that are reproduced,
realistically, by an ink jet. When asked if any medium
is his favorite, Rosenthal said his interests go from
one to the other. The time he devotes to his artwork
could depend on his practice and his schedule.
"Right now, I'm doing a lot of photography because I
have the ability to crop and edit my photos and have
them reproduced," he said. Inspiration can vary,
depending on where Rosenthal is. With photography, he
said takes his camera when he travels. "I'm motivated to
take pictures of people sitting or smiling or colorful
scenes." With painting, he said he might be looking at a
structure and "making some notes" and then making a
rendering of what he would paint. Sculpturing heads or
busts is like a cakewalk, since he is knowledgeable
about human anatomy.
"I love to create. The creativity is what I get a joy
out of," Rosenthal said. "During the hours that I am
working on my art, I am lost in that sea of creativity.
I loose all track of time." Rosenthal's interest in art
began early, at the age of 6 to be exact, when he was
given the task of trimming hedges in the front of his
family's Long Island home. Perhaps it may have been his
first taste for sculpture, no doubt. During his
undergraduate years at New York State University
College, New Paltz, where he majored in biology and
history, Rosenthal said he was unable to enroll in art
classes originally because he wasn't majoring in the
subject. In his senior year, he managed to sign up for a
class in printing black and white photography.
While in New Paltz, he also had the chance to make
pottery and stoneware. He was able to carry out more art
while attending medical school at the University
Autonoma of Guadalajara, taking up pen and ink drawing.
He continued his art, during his free time while in his
plastic surgery residency at Nassau County Medical
Center in East Meadow, N.Y. Rosenthal, who has been
practicing in Fairfield for more than 20 years, is chief
of plastic surgery at Bridgeport Hospital. For more
information about Rosenthal's exhibit at the Discovery
Museum, contact the museum at 372-3521. |
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Jeffrey
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