Igael Tumarkin: 50 Years of Mastery (26/02/2009 - 27/03/2009)

As the perspective of the History of Israeli art comes to light, dawning is the stature of the central position of Tumarkin within it.
There is no other artist in whose art the Israeli cultural meeting point is so strikingly evident.
His works explore the meeting between European symbolism and "the Israeli land" amid Western culture and the 'place' (localization).
On the one hand is the use of earth-like materials, not solely in the metaphor of the 'place' (soil works, shrines, etc.), and on the other - the close connection with Modern Classic European tradition.
This tension exists in Tumarkin's works, not just in the choice of themes, but also in the selection of the materials employed to build them.
Works colorfully draped with cloths in the style of the ancient Galilee, adjacent to works wearing soldiers’ helmets and weapons; works dealing with the land of Eretz Israel and Israeli symbolism - such as his sculpture " He walked in the fields" - besides Tumarkin's homage to works by Van Gogh, Durer and Duchamp, which conduct a discourse of eras with Tumarkin.
Thus, the conscious sense of belonging to the 'place' and the integration in the Middle Eastern arena on the one hand, as well as the understanding and realization that the creation is an inseparable part of the Western cultural chain on the other, accompany the works as echoes.
In this exhibition, a series of pivotal pieces from a lifetime worth of Tumarkin's works will be on display.