Solo Show

The exhibition will present a collection of works by the artist Jacob Mishori, most of which are on display for the first time. The works represent a range of styles and techniques; from blunt expressiveness to refined geometry. The chronological range of works spreads over 35 years. There are sketches, aquarelles, oil works, acrylics, photographs and even a custom-made textile wall installation. Mishori’s early works deal with sexual identity mostly through the artist’s self portrait, and are closely linked to the artifice of pop culture, rock & roll and glossy magazines. In the past 20 years or so, the artist’s activity has evolved from self portrait to the portrait of painting. The works range from sensual, warm and personal which may be perceived as expressive, to the geometrical which may be perceived as decorative or estranged. Two traditional approaches which the artist disputes and renders untraditional. The artist demonstrates a free-flowing process between styles and genres, breaking with traditions on the definition of beauty in art. He claims that art is cosmetic and the cosmetic is art. Writing about art should be aligned with writing about cosmetics and it is better for a critic to critique about both in the same way. Mishori’s work can easily be exhibited in a white gallery space, but the artist’s fantasy is that his work will be shown in beauty shops, side by side with cosmetic posters and life style products. Included in the Show is a diptych featuring Stalin with a wig, a well-known iconic image of a powerful leader from the 20^th century, a symbol whose public persona moved between heroic leader to ruthless dictator, dressed with an absurdly styled wig. On the other side of the piece, two handsome youths from the Socialist Youth Movement, gaze towards a sublime point in space, are also dressed with a ridiculous modern hair style. Above them hangs a sponge-like cloud and in the background red flags wave in front of toxic green skies.   Mishori used painting materials that were perceived anachronistic at the time, including chalks, oil pastels and aquarelles. The aquarelles were an automatic reference to the Israeli tradition of “Ofakin Hadashim” (new horizons). Mishori made an aquarelle which is anti-aquarelle – not a “beauty stain” created with a soft application, but rather a tightly controlled gesture of his method.  In doing so, Mishori is able to manipulate traditional methodology which goes against the medium by enabling a different form of expression, pushing the limits of the very essence of an aquarelle. Contributing to this juxtaposition are the mechanical themes and clichés that were picked from modern art and became with time, symbols deprived of content. Not the lyrical color scheme of “Ofakim Hadashim” but a radiant phosphorous and glossy color. Two works of spayed color on a decorative sail boat wall paper were painted by industrial spray paint without the artist’s touch. The works imitate a digitally manipulated computerized graphic surface. Because of the use of spray paint, the artist’s relationship with the painting surface may be perceived as interpersonal relationships: those of intimacy and distance and sex without touch. Over the last fifteen years, while Mishori teaches art in Israel, he finds himself obsessed and bothered by the idea of artistic authenticity versus the artist as a machine of production. He is concerned with the position of art versus design. Does the current atmosphere allow for the artist to crucify themselves in the name of art?  Is it time for marketing and branding courses to enter art school curriculums? And what about the transformation of art studies into academic disciplines? Questions as to why does this double-headed entity, art education and art practice, combined, appear as natural to us represent a continuous discourse in Mishori’s work.  Since he decided to work as an artist, Mishori has questioned the public’s reverence of art, rendering sublime interpretation as nothing more than artistic decoration.  However, through both his practice and teaching, Mishori has not yet understood how to answer his own dilemma.  Despite all of this, Mishori believes the most compelling aspect of his work is the work itself: art=action. In a conversation with Mishori, he’s waiting to unquote “come out” upon entrance into The Golden Age Club.