Running from October 31st to November 30th and curated by Daniela Talmor, Iris Honig’s exhibition highlights humans as actors, come to play their scenes before departing for the afterlife.
Iris Honig’s exhibition tells us that every one of us is an actor who came into this world only to act out his or her scenes before departing this world. The works of art, painted quick over a short period, expose a very physical painting event, most of which were executed in one “take”, like a film, but were preceded by a long process of internalization. The artist describes the process of painting as a very ecstatic, concentrated and rapid process, which gives her a sense of freedom. The level of concentration she reaches is so deep that sometimes, at the end of the work process, she finds herself looking at a painting as if it were unfamiliar and alien, and wondering how it originated from her.
During the painting process a very personal acquaintance develops between the artist and the person she paints, and therefore she has recently chosen to paint mainly family members and close friends. Yet even in paintings of unknown curiosity arousing characters, Honig develops a strong spiritual bond with the characters she paints, which she says cannot develop when painting landscapes, for example. Although the characters are similar in their appearance to the characters in real life, Iris feels that during the act of painting she creates them anew. Every one of the artist’s large portraits depicts a head of monumental dimensions that covers the entire canvas. A portrait of Woody Allen in warm shades is one of the most notable of these paintings, and is reproduced on the invitation to the exhibition. Other notable portraits include a promiscuous young woman in an embarrassing situation, a woman who gazes directly forward in response to a surprising scene she sees, and a young man bending over a desk, engrossed in writing, among others. Alongside these portraits are paintings of characters from scenes that the artist defines as scenes from “the film of life”. Among these are a painting of a father and daughter resting on a bench during a walk, bored children leaning on an orange colored wall as they wait in a dentist’s office, and a boy who stumbles on a dog and stares directly at the viewer.
Iris Honig’s paintings enable the viewer to look in depth into the fascinating human landscape that surrounds her. Her works, executed in splendid colors, demonstrate daring and audacity, and speak the personal language that she has developed as an artist, a colorist language with an identifiable stamp and strong presence.
Gal On Gallery
79-81 Yehuda Halevy St.
Tel: 03-5603222
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