The New Gallery - Rashomon

Rashomon - The Exhibition (28.12.06)

The Rashomon effect is the effect of subjectivity on perception and memory. It means that viewers of a certain event might have essentially different but equally reasonable impressions thereof.

The drawing is usually the beginning. It is the basis of artistic work, the first embodiment of the idea on paper.

The exhibition comprises a collection of drawings that represent various interpretations, by different artists, of drawing as an artistic event. The exhibition displays a variety of attitudes towards drawing: from preparatory drawings, by way of drawings which function as paintings, and on to drawings which substitute for painting. All the participants are young artists who embrace the drawing strategy as a central vocation within their body of work. Through them we assemble the unraveled edges of the 'drawing' concept. The Rashomon effect reflects an X-ray image of the issues occupying the participants' minds.

Some artists emphasize the line's fluency. Others emphasize their inner world of imagination. Yet others use drawing to create a contemporary "look", simply playing with colors and toys. Some still preserve an affinity with concept, philosophy, cultural content, and act on this level.

Oren Eliav does not recognize the empty page. His zero point is a web image. To him, the artistic action is principally an intervention: like a virus, or a terrorist, he penetrates the image and sabotages its genetic code. By contrast, Rony Carny works on the edge of nothingness. In the one-gesture drawings of her Zen-like works, the image is almost absent, arising from the imagination of the viewer. It is drawing that hovers on the verge of dancing. Nir Harel draws with gentle aquarelles, advancing to computer art; crossing from the sensitivity of the brush to the indifference of the printer, he creates a dream world. Avi Sabah employs oil bars to draw letters (or branches?) on soft paper. The elaboration of Masha Zusman's works (ball pen on wood, pealing photographic paper) along with her world of images shifting from the decorative to the pervert, leave the viewer overwhelmed. Shira Glezerman draws the human body from observation, while her gaze creates an abstract object. Noa Charuvi, with swift oil pastels, looks for faces in the world of everyday objects. In her pen and pencil drawings, she searches for a lost memory. Roy Suffrin draws on fast food paper bags. His work is a social act that reacts to certain events in different areas, connecting up into a complete expression. As he defines them, his "Shashukebab" drawings pretend to be drawings and even use the drawing medium, but they are not necessarily so. Yonathan Hirschfeld acts the role of a Baroque craftsman in his small intimate drawings of sovereign symbols. He also aspires to be a propaganda artist in his larger works, of mythological German beauty and power images. Both kinds of work question the ethical boundaries of an image. Gil Yafman examines questions of self image, sexuality and gender by means of self portraits. Gilly Avisar effects semi-random acts on paper – some ready made, while using duplication techniques.

In summary, the exhibition expounds a broad review of attitudes, opinions, ways of acting, ideologies and thoughts about drawing.

N. Charuvi, Y. Hirschfeld, R. Suffrin.