Desert Generation is a group exhibition at the Engel Gallery running until 30.4.2010. The gallery is open Sunday to Thursday: 10:00-20:00 and Friday and holiday eves: 10:00-14:00.
“This is an angry land of cracked summits, valleys torn to pieces and blazing skies. Everything in the desert seems to be battling the forces of destruction. There is a struggle here between the forces and a struggle to survive, with ferociousness and savageness that is unequaled anywhere else in nature “ (Van Dyke, The Desert)
The Desert Generation exhibition presents the viewpoint of an inter-generational group of Israeli artists on the image of the desert. There is no doubt that the Israeli deserts carry a heavy burden – on the one hand, they are burdened with a threatening aspect, since they symbolize the scenic metaphor of the backward and undeveloped, and on the other hand, the desert will always remain an allegory for the journey of the wandering Jew seeking his way in a uncultivated, barren land.
It seems that Israeli artists have never ceased to engage with the myth of the desert, and it has remained as relevant as ever; from the first generation of artists who were attracted by the magic of the desert, that they perceived as Oriental and sensual; through the second generation of artists who even when they attempted to depart from Israeli provincialism, traces of the Israeli desert remained imprinted in their art – the light, colors and aromas; and up to the third generation of artists that still seek their path in the Israeli desert, with no guilt and without the burden of having to establish the state. This is a generation that is not afraid of using the desert as a symbol that represents Israel and its characteristics.
In this exhibition, we will try to trace a connecting line between three generations of Israeli artists in the desert between east and west.
Engel Gallery26 Gordon St., Tel AvivTel: 03-5225637
