MODEL
Homage to Eliayu Gat
Eliahu Gat / MICHAL GEVA / MYRIAM GAMBURD / JONATHAN HIRSCHFELD / GIDI SMILANSKY / TALYA RAZ
CURATOR: GIDI SMILANSKY
09.09.2017 - 06.10.2017
Two exhibitions paying tribute to the painter Eliahu Gat and to his art and legacy will be held during the months of September and October at Alfred Gallery and at Artists’ House Tel Aviv. The exhibitions will focus on two key themes studied by the artist, the female model and the local landscape. Throughout his career, his study had been conceptual, emotional, and libidinal.
Gat orchestrated the female body and constantly reformed its choreography. He created fauvist, libidinal models of an earthen woman; in nature, he documented his visual and notional impressions of the space, the colors and light of the Land of Israel.
Model
Gat’s works came to my attention as a young artist, who had just finished his studies and was pondering, “what’s next?” One of his paintings urged me to look for more, but I could not find any; many of his works are in private collections, barely exposed to the public, and here one may find a narrative of exclusion, the type of which many of his peers encountered at the time.
Gat is primarily a generous artist, brimming with unadulterated, voluptuous love for humanity. His model paintings are an intimate encounter that may or may not be of a personal nature. His passion for painting is felt at once with a sense of eroticism, owing to the sumptuous brushstrokes, and the human warmth, which stands the test of time.
Gat was a student and an assistant at Stematsky and Streichman’s Studia (painting academy), a teacher at the Bat Yam Institute of Art and at the Midrsha (seminary for art teachers), and co-founder of the artistic groups Ha’asara (The Ten) and Aclim (Climate) – all of these were significant highlights in his career. Circumstances and major cultural fashions, along with a non-militant character, have dissuaded his becoming a well-known and well-appreciated artist.
The exhibition I curated aims at rectifying this situation and at exposing Gat to new publics. Following a feeling of intimacy with Gat’s work, I have invited other contemporary artists such as myself to reacquaint themselves with his work and to create an homage for him. This sense of duty also led to the choice of holding the exhibition at Alfred Gallery since artists established it in order to broaden the cultural activity in its area.
Gidi Smilansky, Curator
Model paintings by Gat and works by contemporary artists inspired by Gat will be shown at Alfred Gallery.
Participating artists:
Eliahu Gat / Michal Geva / Myriam Gamburd / Jonathan Hirschfeld / Gidi Smilansky / Talya Raz
Opening: Saturday, 9.9.17, at 20:00.
The exhibition at the Artists’ House Tel Aviv will include Gat’s landscape paintings along with other works by members of Ha’asara and Aclim groups as well as painting by his students and documentary footage.
Opening: Thursday, 28.9.17, at 19:30.
Eliahu Gat, Model / Landscapes Catalog launching: Thursday, 19.10.17, at 18:00, Artist’ House Tel Aviv