Manhood- Group Exhibition Catalogue by Litvak Contemporary

Manhood Group Exhibition

Manhood- Group Exhibition Curator: Daria Kaufmann

Litvak Contemporary announces the opening of the exhibition, Manhood. Featuring 5 artists, the exhibition explores the contemporary representation of men at various ages. Art history has a long tradition of portraying men in positions of power communicating characteristics like prestige, wealth and physical prowess. In contrast, the artists in this exhibition depict masculinity in its weak and despondent states. The men described look away from the viewer and lower their gaze; their shoulders are hunched and their posture evokes failure and defeat. The figures seem withdrawn, their distant gaze lost in thought while in other instances they cover their eyes altogether hiding from the world they inhabit. These intensely personal works expand upon the conventional depiction of masculinity, creating a nuanced and intimate portrait of manhood. Ofer Lellouche uses a dramatic palette of black and yellow to depict the figures in his works, which are often self-portraits. In “Self Portrait” (1988), an older man raises his hand in a gesture that could be understood as a cry for help. His eyes are blackened, bringing to mind Oedipus’ tale that blindness is the only true way to see things and vision leads to straying from the right path. Michele Bubacco, a young Italian painter, uses his work as a lament on the human condition depicting man drenched in constant anguish, consumed by dread about existence and death. In “Uomini d’affari” (2009), Bubacco depicts two men entangled in an ambiguous embrace, a dance. a potential lover’s embrace or a wrestling match. The boundary between amorous, a leisure time activity and violence is intentionally blurred.

Daniel Enkaoua embarked on his artistic career in the 1980s, ignoring the dictates of any one style. He plays with different modes of representation in a manner that creates tensions within his oeuvre. In “Liel et le manteaux de Sarah” (2015-2016), he portrays an adolescent dressed in an oversized black coat, who appears to be burdened by the garment and obscuring his youth, portraying an ambivalence between vitality and stillness. Itamar Freed’s impressive photograph entitled “Pablo” is part of a larger series, in which he explores enlarged male portraiture. The men are very pale and the magnification of their faces serves as a tool to expose every tiny defect of the skin. The capillaries, marks, and blemishes are not only visible, but accentuated, calling to mind a battlefield. This wounded surface serves as a metaphor to the soul within. Maya Bloch is the only women artist in the exhibition and her depiction of men shows little signs of masculinity or signifiers of strengths. She represents men with brushstrokes that reminds of a liquid form of state rather than a solid one. The resulting image reveals a haunting, intimate humanity between man and ghost.

Ofer Lellouche

Self Portrait, 1988, Acrylic on canvas, 240x192 cm For inquiries please click here

Michele Bubacco

Mattina, 2010, Oil on canvas, 67x103 cm For inquiries please click here

Uomini dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;affari (Flamenco), 2009 Oil on canvas 135x110 cm For inquiries please click here

Autoritratto giallo, 2010 Oil on canvas 63x77 cm For inquiries please click here

Daniel Enkaoua

Liel accoudĂŠ, 2015, Oil on canvas, 20.2x16.5 cm For inquiries please click here

Natan, 2016 Oil on canvas 32.7x27.1 cm For inquiries please click here

Liel et le manteau de Sarah, 2015-2016 Oil on canvas 161.6x96.6 cm For inquiries please click here

Liel torse nu sur la chaise marron, 2015-2016 Oil on canvas 28.4x32.6 cm For inquiries please click here

Liel torse nu, vu de face, 2015-2016 Oil on canvas 44x33.7 cm For inquiries please click here

Itamar Freed

Blue Flowers, 2017, Inkjet print on archival paper, 110x165 cm For inquiries please click here

Pablo, 2017 Inkjet print on archival paper 174x118 cm For inquiries please click here

Maya Bloch

Untitled (The Painter), 2014, Acrylic on canvas, 150x140 cm For inquiries please click here

Untitled, 2014 Acrylic and Oil on canvas 155x135 cm For inquiries please click here