BE THERE
GenesisPresented by Mike Weiss Gallery January 12, 2008- February 23, 2008Reception: January 12, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmYigal Ozeri
Ozeri’s meticulously rendered paintings possess a heightened sense of realism and a pure, naturalistic femininity. At first glance, these works are overtly beautiful and ripe with dramatic and seductive power, but they also serve as a window into a deeply symbolic realm. Like Andrew Wyeth’s Helga, Ozeri’s model/muse Priscilla reveals and retains the intensity of the world around us, appearing as an embodiment of nature and archetype for Mother Earth. In the paintings on view Priscilla surfaces from dense forests and dark, murky streams, confronting the viewer with an intense stare or sly smile. At other times she is depicted lying on her back, covered in vegetative debris, with her eyes locked in an ecstatic trance. As Priscilla’s body merges into and out of the natural forms around her, she comes to define the inextricable link that exists between humanity and the natural world. And by positioning the environment as the locus of our existence, Ozeri’s paintings unveil a powerful, ecological spirituality, reminding us that our actions against the Earth are actions against ourselves. Remarkable for their technical virtuosity and skilled precision, these paintings also contain an underlying abstraction that is particularly evident in the way Ozeri renders the plant life surrounding his model. The thickets of vines that frame Priscilla’s face evoke the calligraphic lines and automatic mark-making of Brice Marden and Cy Twombly. Ozeri’s paintings seamlessly blend the literal with the abstract, revealing a quiet, intimate space that is teaming with creation and vitality. Yigal Ozeri has exhibited extensively throughout Israel, Europe and the United States, and his work can be found in many prominent collections, including The Jewish Museum, New York; The Tel Aviv Museum of Art; the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Washington DC; and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. He will have an exhibition of new paintings, video and photography at Charim Galerie in Vienna, Austria this April, followed by an exhibition of new paintings at Byron Cohen Gallery in Kansas City, MO in September 2008. Next fall Ozeri will have a solo exhibition at the Singer Gallery, Mizel Arts and Culture Center in Denver, Colorado. This is Ozeri’s fourth exhibition with Mike Weiss Gallery. The artist lives in works in New York City.
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