© Lea Golda Holterman
Fred London Gallery 17 Riding House Street W1W 7DS London France
Lea Golda Holterman's portraits capture restraint in Jewish boys on the cusp of adulthood.” – Lucy Davies, The Daily Telegraph. They are aware of sexual desire, but under Jewish Law, sex is to be controlled and satisfied at the proper time and place, and manner. Masturbation is forbidden. Holterman examines the boys’ relationship with their faith, and their bodies; and, balancing the ethic with the aesthetic, she has produced beautiful, seductive images.
Wearing mostly traditional clothing, the boys are photographed in the studio, often against rich, soft backdrops, with no temporal references. Sometimes tied, bound by the tefillin - the small leather boxes containing the scrolls of the Torah, ("And you shall bind them as a sign on your arm, and they shall be as frontlets on your head between your eyes"), and sometimes wearing the kippah - or skullcap - and the tallit - or prayer shawl - the images have a timeless quality, though occasionally a watch or the elasticated waistband of a pair of boxer shorts into view. In one image, clothes hang in a tree, to symbolise setting free.
© Lea Golda Holterman
Symbolism is an important to Holterman. Influenced by Roland Barthes' myth creation, Holterman creates images that will replace the old mythos with something more contemporary and relevant, challenging ingrained cultural and emotional associations.
“Holterman’s achievement is her superlative grasp of boundaries. None of these images is voyeuristic or remotely sleazy. Instead they positively radiate desire and seem flushed with the promise of youth.” – Lucy Davies
© Lea Golda Holterman
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 10-6, Saturday 11-6
Wheelchair access to the ground floor
Exhibitions are free
Tube stations: Oxford Circus, Great Portland Street
More information on http://www.fred-london.com/
Photos et vignettes © Lea Golda Holterman