.22Want of Matter.22 Visual arts in Israel

raffi lavie

untitled, 1969

israel museum, jerusalem



michal na aman

anal, banal, canal, 1978

tel aviv museum of art

in mid-1960s group called 10+ appeared on scene. group, led artist raffi lavie, sought alternative lyric abstraction of new horizons group. important innovations of school importing pop art , avant garde art israel, developing unpolished style, , combining photography, readymade, , collage. among many artists in group buky schwartz, ziona shimshi, pinchas eshet, tuvia beeri, uri lifschitz, , others. since ostensibly lacked clear ideology, group focused on organizing series of exhibits in galleries tried emphasize idea of blurring of distinctions between different kinds of media in contemporary art. in addition, group pioneering force in introduction of video art israel. although 10+ officially disbanded in 1970, members of group carried on spirit , style, taking final form group revolved around art school college (ha-midrashah). esthetic principle of group came called want of matter .

the theoretical underpinning of group established curator sara breitberg-semel, in exhibit want of matter: quality in israeli art , took place in march 1986 in tel aviv museum. roots of style found, according her, in wide acceptance of european , american art in israel, pop art, art pauvre, , conceptual art. these influences expressed use of industrial materials, such plywood, industrial paint, collages , assemblages, etc. element, in breitberg-semel s opinion no less central, non-aesthetic approach, roots of allegedly found in jewish tradition of talmudic studies, places text, , not form, @ center of culture.

according breitberg-semel, want of matter began painting of new horizons group. members of group developed style came called lyrical abstract , within framework of painters created abstracted form of reality expressionistic overtones. works of followers, aviva uri , arie aroch, used national aesthetic model called want of matter , utilizing materials in art compatible ascetic outlook , combining abstraction implied iconography.

visually, want of matter style distilled characteristics these diverse influences, preferring painting three-dimensional sculpture. overall, style can summed focusing on use of low-cost materials identified establishment of israel, such plywood, cardboard, collages photographs arranged collages, industrial paints, , writing , scribbling within work. use of these materials gave intentionally humble appearance surface of paintings, meant add dimension of criticism artists toward israeli society.

in article accompanying want of matter exhibition, breitberg-semel focuses on raffi lavie typical representative of style. lavie s work typifies tel aviv spirit , european-zionist modernism mixed neglect , abandonment. on years image of raffi lavie himself, dressed in sloppy short pants , rubber flip-flops, intentionally native , sabra in appearance, displayed expression of problematic aesthetic approach. lavie s paintings, include childish scribble, collages of magazine pictures, posters advertising tel aviv cultural events, stickers words head or geranium printed on them, , recognizably, sawed-off sheets of plywood painted chalky white, came epitomize want of matter style.

in addition crystallizing clear visual language, lavie careful keep discussion of work on formalist level. in interviews consistently avoided interpretation of work outside sphere of artistic language in modernist form. in spite of clear iconographic imagery in work, lavie insisted these images of no historical importance. furthermore, according lavie , breitberg-semel, use of collages , other materials lacked halo of artistic approval, meant undercut , undermine significance of visual images. lavie s students continued formalist approach in art, consistently relating modernist tradition, in works visual images began appear made difficult maintain lavie s didactic separation of form , content .

yair garbuz s connection lavie dates time young man. number of years lavie garbuz s private teacher. [44] later garbuz went being pupil being senior teacher in college . garbuz s work these years combines characteristics of zionist ethos, reflected in popular culture, political , social criticism. two-dimensional works 1970s include mix of newspaper photos, documentary photographs, texts , other objects, combined in compositions have no clear hierarchy. of works, such evenings (arabs) pass quietly (1979) , arab village in israel resembles life of our forefathers in ancient times (1981), criticized stereotypes rampant in israeli society. in installation if not giant @ least in garden (1981), garbuz created environment saturated photographic images, of enlarged , turned sculptures in space. between images photographs of new immigrant transit camps , development towns, of father reading newspaper davar daughter, etc. in background recording of toy whistle can heard creating noise of toy forest .

michal na aman s works of 1970s used photography create collages. in these works na aman created images emphasized inadequacy of descriptive language , vision, , in way, showed possibility different , imaginative interpretations of visual representations. practical implications of debate or of axiomatic phrase demonstrated failure of descriptive language. against background of visual dimension of want of matter style, texts written in commercial style or in handwriting appeared, reflecting semiotic collapse of image presentation. examples of approach can found in loyal fish , bird (1977) or message according bird (1977), in na aman merges fish , bird images hybrid monsters. in other works, such series blue retouching (1975) see protest against society s accepted moral , esthetic principles.

in spite of clear feminist connections, in yehudit levin s works, see more personal , less intellectual approach in works of other students of raffi lavie. many of levin s works made of plywood , constructed @ end of 1970s , beginning of 1980s. in these works levin created compositions of sawed , painted plywood, accompanied photographs leaning against wall. names of these works, such bicycle (1977) or princess in palace (1978), suggest domestic connection. though these works three-dimensional, main interest lies in complex connection between drawing , visible area of work. work bursts out of frame , spreads out space.