• Deborah Shallman
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  • Added 06 Jun 2019
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Contemporary Israeli artist colorful drawings

'Painting Outside the Box' by Ilan Vizgan The flute raises it's voice / what is it's story? / is it bad news or good ones or what? / It's about everything and all A poem by Nathan Alterman/ summer celebration In the center of Ben-Nun's paintings stands the image of the woman and the relationship between the sexes. Women are displayed as curvaceous, seductive images often in dancing poses. The dance is used as a metaphor for courting and seduction; the thick red lips, at times heart- shaped, symbolize passion and love. When it seems that the implicit allure isn't sufficient, the female image is portrayed in a frontal wide stance, in a composition that reminds us of the letter W. But when the two images meet, the feminine and the masculine, the unification is complete; melding into each other, the images' side view completely overlaps. When in a seated position the whole shape converts into the letter M emphasizing the complimenting opposites. The protagonists - women and men - are accompanied by secondary characters; symbolic images of especially fish, hands (the Hamsa) and eyes. Those are prevalent in Middle East cultures and represent fertility, luck and protection from the evil eye. Their presence in the paintings, alongside the lovers, implies that the matter at hand is not barren erotica and carnal passion, but genuine love that yearns for a home, family and the raising of offsprings. Beyond that, those images provide the observer that needed grasping point, for they corral this artistic creation, that seemed at first glance to fluctuate between other cultures and histories, to bring it back into this place, our own place, the here and now. Mirit Ben-Nun is a wild plant who doesn't grow in the main avenue of the Israeli art but off the main road. She has her own path from which she defies the established Israeli art world. Like a Cupid, she sends her love arrows with a mischievous smile; when they hit a passerby the falling in love is instantaneous. Her paintings are filled with magic and humor. The unfamiliarity characterising them has an inexplicable attraction, similarly to the spell the wild has over the Westerner. In a sea of sounds that wraps around us, more pleasing or less, Ben-Nun‘s pure voice is echoed from the depths riddle- filled and unique, yearning for its own place in the world!

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