(Un)Angelic Double,
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, 2022
The exhibition (Un)Angelic Double produces distorted reflections of twin works. In the middle of the exhibition space are two silkscreen prints on industrial printing polyester mesh, on which a pair of sewing scissors appears wide open, forming the shape of a cross or an angle. Two malformed faces appear on opposite sides of the elongated exhibition space, based on an old photograph of my brother as a child. The image is distorted to make his angelic face uncanny or even distressing. On one side, the raster-patterned face is printed on an industrial printing polyester mesh. It remains partially hidden behind a blank mesh screen and is revealed only by approaching it. The twin print, a blueprint of photographic emulsion and pigment, is on the opposite wall, near the entrance. Two small oil paintings, seemingly identical, are formed according to the same recipe. However, due to their differences and flaws, they simultaneously testify that the replica is merely an idyllic possibility. This procedural reconstruction of the painting dictates a situation where the image is only the object of abuse and mutilation. They are hung on the wall and separated by the mesh screen, which generates a sense of duplication and reflection. A virtual and optical space division is created, leaving the room in a dual state of stasis and movement. The layering of space offers an alternative optic; the beholder’s body is affected by its blocked vision and submitted to the temporary optical and spatial conditions.
