Caterpillar 2019

Dual exhibition with Moshe Gershon, at Hanina Gallery, Tel Aviv
Curator: Lia Tzigler

The five life-sized marionettes that make up the show are attached mostly to the walls of the gallery, hung in various states of suspension and collapse. Of no discernable facial features, these droopy figures, cut in plywood material, adopt the painted opacity of a clown's face, where the excessive makeup masks both expression and identity.

Identified by name, they include Kakopetria (Greek for 'bad rock'), a feminine figure painted over with ink who, with only one of her legs moveable, demonstrates the split identity of the clown; Sebastian, who, shows a far greater range of movement, with only the wall against which it rubs to limit its loose, uncontrollable jerk; Balthazar, a manly, domineering figure dressed up in a feminine, form-fitting attire that accentuates his movement and sexuality; Black-leg, piled up against the wall, is completely immobile, demonstrating the state that follows collapse, with some of the surface of the plywood left exposed; and finally, at the center, hung from the ceiling, is Matti, a youthful marionette dangled head down from a rope attached to the ceiling, leveraged by a wooden log that is placed on the floor. Like a clownish mishap that centers the room, he is hung from a single leg, the remainder of its limbs weighted down, lifeless, aspiring to a standstill.

Viewers can interact with the marionettes suspended on ropes at the walls, pulling their strings to bring movement into their limbs. If these are to be seen as paintings, then the painting is in fact alive and animated, only waiting for someone to approach it and pull at its tail. Here too, in the web space, you are invited to activate the voice of the marionettes and animate them yourself.

List of works (In order of video appearance): (1) Sebastian, 2019, 6/123/248 cm (2) Balthazar, 2019, 6/76/274 cm (3) Kakopiteria, 2019, 6/72/265 cm. Mixed media (painted plywood, rope and pulleys).