Shaar Hagai 2019

Gallery Jaffa 97, Jerusalem
Curators: Assaf Cohen & Izek Mizrahi

The images mounted on the light boxes of the street-gallery originate in a series of paintings made after nighttime camera auto-captures of local wildlife. The shots were taken near Highway 1, using trap cameras that were installed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority in preparation for a new wildlife crossing.

Now built, the bridge provides local wildlife a safe crossing over the highway. Used by wild boars, jackals and gazelles. The pathway positions these as the current incarnation of Jewish convoys who made their way to a blockaded Jerusalem in 1948 war.

The series includes 9 works where utter darkness and flash lighting join to isolate the thing at focus: a snapshot of the occasional porcupine or hyena caught at random. The brisk, incisive brushstrokes capture the urgency of the photographic event and the primal consciousness of the hunted one.

Finally, for that street-exhibition, the paintings were printed on a much larger scale than the original paintings or photographs.