acrylic and pencil on plywood
Raffi Lavie at 53rd Venice Biennale
In the Name of the Father
June 7 – November 22, 2009
The 53rd International
La Biennale di Venezia
In some respects, Lavie succeeded in distilling an Israeli aesthetic; by giving it form, he reaffirmed the ethos of the place. His genius stems from the fact that his art reflects our values, ideals, and aspirations that have gone awry. An exhibition of Raffi Lavie’s work at the present Biennale attests to the yearnings invoked by his art, forcing us to question what is it that we wish to remember, and why this therapeutic memory has the taste of urgency.
Observing Lavie’s works, two qualities stand out: the child-like painting, and the obsessive erasure of images via scribbling, carving, and generous color strokes. These practices are connected to his perception of the periphery’s double role as an actual place and as a spiritual dimension. The acts of erasing and starting anew are closely related to Lavie’s cultural heritage as an Israeli and a Jew. Working from within a scopophobic tradition, far-removed from any center, he created an idiosyncratic language, specific to the place, its needs, and desires.
Team: Doreet LeVitte Harten, Diana Dallal, Ilan Wizgan, Mati Broudo, Arad Turgeman, Yael Braun, Carmit Blumensohn, Michal Sahar and Koby Levy, Daria Kassovsky
Press preview: June 4 – 6 (invitation only)
Inauguration of the Israeli Pavilion: Friday, June 5, 1.00 p.m.
For more information please contact Ilan Wizgan
Tel: +972 52 329 3037; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org