|
|
 |
The rich and complex works of Mark Kanovich, an Israeli artist who was born in Tbilsi, Georgia (1970), are not sealed within the boundaries of the objects he paints, sculpts, or draws. Kanovich is interested in body portraits and his diversified artistic technique does not frame the theatrical scenes, embedded in the outlines of his figures, in pale and conserving frost. Quite the contrary. The fantastic realism of his works wishes to exceed the boundaries of the static and dimensional medium. Kanovich primarily paints motion.
Kanovich's f... |
| Medium |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Terracotta With Acrylic Painting
|
Wire Sculpture And Acrylic
|
Watercolor On Arches Paper
|
|
|
|
|
igures move through space. Moreover, they appear in space like actors on stage. Presenting exceptional compositions, his human figures sit on, hang from, or touch each other, and are staged in sharp, hard, and threatening angles, or soft, cyclic configurations. Their initial presentation on the canvas or the pedestal does not fixate them. Their outlines obfuscate their boundaries, enabling motion. They are offered alternative locations or made to appear flickering, dancing, alive. The artistic movement technique exceeds the scope of the work itself. Painting on canvas assumes a third dimension because it creates the momentum of sudden volume, which draws attention to eventuations that wish to break through the two-dimensional surface, to appropriate the space - not only of the work, but also the gaze set upon it. The works' mobility is further expressed through the choice of colors: pastel and soft shades are often threatened by "misplaced" spots that disturb the serenity and stillness, that cast shadows or stains, drawing attention to the margins of events, wishing to challenge the space where the figures are located.
The impact of motion empowers and challenges Kanovich's artwork. Thematically, his works mostly portray domestic scenes -- a man and a woman, or a family -- but they are always shown accompanied by external, familiar and unfamiliar objects: dog, balloon, doll, playing blocks, assemblage boat, flowers. That "extraneous" object charges individual and group portraits with a threatening dimension in the sense of the Freudian Unheimliche. Hallucinations invade paintings that at first glance seem naïve and dreamy. Familiar and obvious objects become unidentified, as a secret breaks out. Reminiscent of Chagall's depictions of the Jewish town, Kanovich's family portraits offer more than domestic romanticism. They present themes of love, protection, belonging, softness, and reconciliation; but at the same time, they hint at things beneath the surface of the naively homey scenes. Behind the intimate proximity, there secretly lurk darker issues, obscure ghosts that leave faint impressions by the side of the human figures, behind them, and often inside them. Each image of closeness and intimacy carries the potential of deficiency, sterility, suffocation, and loneliness.
The nearly-narrative complexity of the works is meticulously orchestrated, and thus demand a deciphering gaze to explore their various layers. Kanovich's works do not lend themselves to a glance or veiled gaze. They fail to offer the comfort of familiarity. The hypnotic, dreamy feel of figures floating in midair, or whose faces are turned in am impossible angle, as if gazing at something outside the scene, is filled with longing. So much longing emerges from the works: A longing for things that could have been, that have not been attained yet, and perhaps never will. It is, therefore, no wonder that the works bear no titles. Kanovich is not interested in affixing them, just as he does not restrict his artistic technique, or the humanity of his figures. The "anonymity" of the works calls for a translation and appropriation process that is found in the viewer's gaze. Viewers may see there the singular, romantic enchantments of artistic alleviation, and at the same time observe the dark and impossible movement that wishes to break through the boundaries of space, to break loose from its chains. This is the longing motion that is etched on the figures' faces, on their composition in space, on their inter-relative placement.
In Kanovich's unique, bold, and impressive artwork, each displayed piece is a segment of a stage act. Both the acting and the watching figures assume their dramatic roles as a result of his use of composition games and reflections of expression, color, and texture. Kanovich stages his paintings as part of the creative process. The unusual aesthetic experience of watching his works is enclosed in the observers' attempt to follow the director's work, thus calling for constant, subjective, and dynamic dialogue between the artist, the work, and the viewer; an intimate, secretive, dizzying, and hypnotizing dialogue that is constantly in motion.
Omri Herzog
|
|
|
Subscribe