HEROES ERAN SHAKINE
MANA
C O N T E M P O R A RY
HEROES ERAN SHAKINE
HEROES Eran Shakine
As if grown nearly fully formed fresh out of the soil, Eran Shakine’s iconic figures stand on uncertain
Van Gogh and Gauguin, recurring partners in Shakine’s repertoire, whether drawn or sculpted,
wobbly legs looking much as if they might be reabsorbed into the earth.
continue to be the subject of endless speculation for him: Van Gogh’s relationship with Gauguin, feelings of insecurity, a romantic bond, a broken one, a psychosis? In one of the sculptures Shakine
The seven new sculptures here are all black, all hard-shelled cast aluminium and bronze, but they
rendered the two artists as physically connected. With information derived from research, from
show their clay origins, the hand marks of their creator, in the softness and irregularities of their
Google, from historical gossip, and psychological speculation, these artists are forever linked in
surfaces. And all of the works have holes in them so you can see inside, rendering them, in effect,
Shakine’s imagination.
shells to be filled with our own perceptions. Are they both less and more than meet the eye? Stationed among the strong, albeit enigmatic, males is Alice-a young woman standing on the floor, Shakine asks: What makes a hero? What is the nature of celebrity? Do cultural, political, intellectual,
taller than all the other heroes. For Shakine, she “speaks of the position of women in society.” She
and artistic figures have qualities in common? Is there something about them, or even more,
could be part “Alice in Wonderland,” part “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” part everywoman.
something about us, that needs to makes them heroic? How are our times and culture reflected in our choice of heroes? Do we understand these icons differently from different historical perspectives?
Meanwhile, Sigmund Freud, a formidable presence here--dour, unrevealing, and not quite judgmental-holds it all together, looking less exposed than the rest.
The answer to everything is, Yes! At the same time, Shakine insists, “They are very much about now.” Timely as well as timeless, the characters’ uniform blackness together with their underlying flirtation Standing on the floor on stainless-steel plates, the sculptures are all positioned with their back to
with abstraction absorb much of their individuality. They are repositories of our own cultural and
the center of the room facing the empty white wall, as if partaking of a Tibetan meditation. “What
individual imaginations and expectations, just as they create them. But they distinguish themselves
are they looking at?” Shakine leaves us to wonder. Are they inviting us to join the circle? “You can’t
most by their forthright open-endedness and willingness to entertain all questions and answers.
control what people see,” he observes. But in perceiving the figures this way, we can be drawn into their group, forced to see them as they see us.
Shakine’s “heroes” partake of the present, the art historical, and the fictive. Ultimately, all of the figures are at once representations of and inquiries into how we define the world itself as well as
These are specific individuals who attain universality in the tentativeness of existence. Shakine is
what it means to be a hero.
not interested so much in their individual personalities as he is in “what the person means in our culture.” Cocky characters are rendered as vulnerable. Here is Mick Jagger emerging from a quick sculptural
Barbara MacAdam
sketch; Jackie Kennedy is portrayed soft, stripped of her impenetrable veneer; Picasso is a figure of
Co-Executive Editor
bravado, his clothing patched together but his stance well-balanced.
ARTnews Magazine
Pablo Picasso, 2015, bronze with polished black patina and stainless steel, h 65 in.
Alice, 2015, bronze with polished black patina and stainless steel, h 79 in.
Mick, 2015, self dry clay and stainless steel, 20x7 x 5 in.
Van Gogh and Gauguin, 2015, bronze and polished black patina, stainless steel, 71 x 38 x 33 in.
Mick, 2015, aluminum and polished black patina, 72 x 27 x 20 in.
Jackie O, 2015, aluminum and polished black patina, 77 x 29 x 24 in.
Sigmund Freud, 2015, bronze with polished black patina and stainless steel, h 69 in.
Born in Tel Aviv, 1962 Studied art at Wizo Art School, Tel Aviv 1987-1992 Lived in New York, assistant to artist Karl Appel Selected Solo Exhibitions
Public Sculptures and Permanent Installations
2015 “Heroes ״MANA Contemporary, New Jersey
Museum Tower Plaza, Tel Aviv
The best of Eran Shakine, XXI gallery, Geneva
Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv
2014
Graffitigirl, Zemack Contemporary Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv Artists House
2013
Art for Sale/Sail, Special project for fashion night TLV
Ashdod Park
2012
Sunny Side Up, Zemack Contemporary Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Gan HaTzuk, Netanya
2011
Good help is hard to find..., Zemack
The College of Management, Rishon LeZion
Contemporary Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Gan Kineret, Kfar Saba
2010
Catwalk, Gallery 39, Tel Aviv
Minimal contradictions, TWIG Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Grants and Scholarships
2009
Don’t worry, Julie M. Gallery, Toronto
1995 Artist in residence, Cité
2008
Sabbath Match, Gallery 39, Tel Aviv
Internationale des Arts, Paris
2007
The Artist Who did not Look Back, Gallery 39, Tel Aviv
1989-90 Arts Matters, New York
2003
Domestic, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art
2000-02 Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
Public Collections
1997
New Sculptures, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan
The British Museum, London
1995
Pools, Artists House, Jerusalem
Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany
1990
Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1989
Selected 43, The Drawing Center, New York
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
1987
Givon Fine Arts Gallery, Tel Aviv
Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art The Open Air Museum, Tefen Ein Harod Museum
Art Miami (upcoming), Art Toronto
Art Stage Singapore, Art Central HK, Art Mrkt San
Selected Bibliography
Francisco, Art Miami NYC (Downtown), Art15 London
Barbara A. MacAdam, ARTnews,
Art Stage Singapore, Pulse New York, Art Mrkt San
Nuit Banai, Artforum International Magazine
Francisco, Fresh Paint 7, Tel Aviv, Art Toronto
Aviva Lori, Haaretz Magazine
2014
Art Miami
2013
Pulse Art Fair Miami
Books
2012
Puls Art Fair NYC, Shanghai Contemporary,
“Sunny Side Up” Hirmer 2011
Art Platform Los Angeles,
Art Toronto, Art Miami, with Zemack Gallery
2012
“We have a champion!” Eretz Israel Museum, Tel aviv
2011
Pulse Art Fair, LA and Miami, with Zemack Gallery
2010
Art Brussels, with TWIG Gallery
2009
Timebuoy, The Tel Aviv Biennial, Art TLV
2008
Van Gogh in Tel Aviv, Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv
2005
On the Banks of the Yarkon, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
2000
The Vera, Silvia and Arturo Schwarz Collection,
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
1999
Drawing: New Acquisitions,
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1994
Contemporary Art Meeting, Tel Hai 94, Israel
Israeli Sculpture 1948-1998, The Open Museum, Tefen
1984
Noemi Givon Gallery, Tel Aviv
Roitman design
Selected Group Exhibitions 2015
MANA
C O N T E M P O R A RY