DALLAS, Pa. — A new solo exhibition by Mountain Top artist Johar Manzar will open in Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s Friedman Art Gallery on Wednesday, Feb. 4 and run through Friday, Feb. 27. Titled “Living Landscapes and More,” the exhibit will feature a variety of Manzar’s artworks.
Exhibits in the Friedman Art Gallery are free and open to the public weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is located on the lower level of the campus’s Nesbitt Academic Commons building.
Manzar is a board-certified assistant professor and physician-scientist at MD Anderson, where she works in pediatric radiation oncology. She holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and studied medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
“It is a privilege to create and consume stories and art,” said Manzar. “Reclaiming our expressive birthright is some of the best medicine there is. I want to leave a legacy of advocacy, art and education, touching my work wherever it goes.”
Manzar said of her works and inspiration, “The forest’s face reflected on a glassy lake fills me with wonder. So does a spider’s web, heavy with dew.
“The world around me lives inside me, and I find it different each time I look. I read old books, research movies and look under rocks. I give prompts to DALL·E [an AI art generator] and see what comes out. Then I let it all compost. Before I enter my space, I surrender the noise. Painting becomes both chisel and balm. It hones me. It heals. It is my gentle command over the wilderness. Greenspace heals us, and painting it heals me,” said Manzar.
Manzar shared that her name in Urdu means “jewel,” and her family’s name means “scene.” “Lose yourself in short jewel strokes and find yourself in the never-ending scene. Up close, they are the marks of a hand. Step back — or step in,” she said.
With the opening of the Abram Nesbitt Academic Commons in 2008, Sidney and Pauline Friedman gifted Penn State Wilkes-Barre with the Friedman Art Gallery. This art gallery space regularly displays the works of students, local artists, and private art collections. The Penn State Wilkes-Barre Friedman Art Gallery strives to promote, encourage, and exhibit artworks of professional and amateur artists from the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus and surrounding communities.
For additional information about this exhibit or other exhibits, contact FriedmanArtGallery@psu.edu or call 570-675-9159.