From the Press Release:
This exhibition is the second collaboration between the gallery and the Ceramic and Glass Department of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. “Inspiration Takes Shape I” was opened a week before the first lockdown in March 2020, and, therefore, unfortunately did not receive the exposure the student and artists deserved.
This year, as part of the “ceramics sets” course led by Ms. Jacaranda Kori, the students were required to visit GINA Gallery and to choose an artist that piqued their interest, and then to create a ceramic response to them.
The first encounter with the gallery was held in Bezalel Academy, where the gallery manager, Ms. Ma’ayan Israeli, gave a lecture about the definition and features of Naïve Art as well as the definition and meaning of creating an homage. This lecture was an extremely important event for the gallery, as the naïve genre is known for being practiced outside of the Art Establishment, and is unacademic by definition. Presenting it to an audience in the midst of its academic studies is unprecedented and emphasizes the tension created by the meeting of the self-taught naives, who are free from all limitations of “correct painting”, and the students who spend years thoroughly studying all facets of art.
The second encounter of the students with naïve art took place at GINA Gallery. During their visit, they got the opportunity to meet the gallery’s owner, Mr. Dan Chill, and to learn about his personal collection and his personal relationships with the artists chosen to be a part of the gallery’s collection. During this visit, each student chose an artist who was a source of attraction and inspiration to her or him. After that decision, each one of them received photocopies of several paintings of the chosen artist so as to be able to get to know the artist better and to get back to his/her artwork whenever necessary.
Throughout the semester, each student interpreted the artist chosen in light of her/his own personal style and understanding. The students learned the artist’s signature language, the way the paint was applied, compositions were formed and colors were used. The students learned how to approach another artist’s artwork and to borrow elements from it while providing their own unique meaning. They learned how to transfer a two-dimensional artwork into three dimensions, and how the total freedom of naïve art can work harmoniously with the discipline and knowledge that a ceramic work requires. Another benefit the students gained through this experience is learning how a gallery operates, and how an exhibition is born. We hope that this will help them in their future career as professional artists.
We believe that the juxtaposition of the paintings and the ceramics, the self-taught and academic, and the freshness of the students that are at the start of their career and the experienced artists, have created an artistic event that is not only exciting and pleasing visually but also an educational, fascinating and intriguing event.
