An Exhibition by Zoya Cherkassky and Anna Lukashevsky 1/26-2/25 Rosenfeld Gallery
2011 marked a turning point in the artistic work of Cherkassky and Lukashevsky; after a long period spent drawing and sketching conceptually, the two turned to projects that dealt with the formal aspects of drawing as well as current interpretations of drawing from observation. In the current exhibition, the critical practice that characterized their earlier artwork has transformed into a practical critique of the aesthetic adopted by the local drawing scene, which seems to avoid the reality surrounding it.
The exhibition serves to give us somewhat of a glimpse into the studios and mindframes of Cherkassky and Lukashevsky, who are fascinated with drawing from observation and feel that it does not replace studio work, but rather enriches it. The artworks displayed reveal several points of view regarding the shift that has taken place in the way the artists approach drawing. At the center of the exhibition lies the eternal question, 'how does one draw?' This question is answered in multiple ways through the artists' artworks.
Whilst in the past the two artists' drawing style was dictated by a concept, the variety of drawing languages that can be witnessed in the current exhibition reflects a constant search for a language that is relevant to each concrete image and changes according to it. The body of work shows drawing skill that abstracts reality in order to allow maximal expression with minimal means. The simplistic style of the exhibited works therefore becomes a conceptual decision, an Israeli take on modernistic drawing.
