Naive in the Time of Corona

From the Press Release:

The Corona pandemic appeared in our lives (in Israel) in February 2020. From that point until today, our world has gone through incredible changes and adjustments. Our daily routine has been disrupted on a regular basis, and we have become accustomed to scenes we never thought would become an integral part of our lives: quarantines, lockdowns, face masks, work from home and crowd management, to name but a few.

Activities we took for granted, such as meeting a friend for coffee, going to the theatre and family holiday dinners have become – at a blink of an eye- an unattainable object of desire.

The restrictions that have engulfed us have complicated our lives, but, at the same time, have made us appreciate things that we have always taken for granted. The pandemic has made us realize the fragility of life, but also the importance of each moment, every human interaction, and has given us a new appreciation of that which is familiar and comfortable.

How did humanity deal with the pandemic?

This we will be able to analyze only in a few years, once the dust has settled on this experience that we have just gone through. The conclusions and understandings will be written in the history books.

How did the Naïve Artists deal with the pandemic?

We will try to answer this question, even if only partially and with due humility, in our exhibition, “Naïve in the Time of Corona”.

Naïve artists, and Naïve Art in general, will always choose to emphasize the good and positive in life. This is one of the fundamental principles of the genre. Naïve Art will usually forgo the daily struggles and conflicts that we come across in our lives. The genre celebrates the simple life, ideal in the eyes of the artist, a life that they remember from their childhood, or wish and imagine that they had, or that we should have had.  The naïve world’s nostalgic perception is timeless and will usually not be affected by transient events or happenings.

In this exhibition, we will see, on the one hand, works that have been created under the impact of the naïve reflections mentioned above. We will perceive that, although we are all going through a challenging period, the pandemic is not present in these artworks. The power of naivism is stronger than the temporary stumbling blocks that the artists have encountered on their way.

On the other hand, the exhibition will present you with artworks that relate to the artists’ experience during the pandemic. The way the artists choose to approach this subject is sometimes obvious and needs no explanation, and sometimes is more personal and cryptic, and only once we have read their attached text will we understand all of the clues that are present in their paintings.

We invite you to appreciate and enjoy the time capsules that the artists have created especially for this exhibition, time capsules that will enter the pages of history.