Mardi 30 Décembre 2014 10:21:50 par actuphoto dans Expositions

Emmanuel Fremin Gallery is proud to announce its first solo exhibition for Israeli artist Eitan Vitkon. Thorns will open with an evening reception on Thursday January 8 from 6-8 pm. The exhibition will run until February 8.

Born in 1967 in a small village in the south of Israel, Eitan Vitkon is an acclaimed contemporary photographer whose work has been exhibited and applauded worldwide. In 1996, Eitan moved to New York from Tel Aviv, to continue studying architecture, eventually receiving a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute in 1999. It was during his studies that he developed a passion for photography, using the camera to sustain a creative mental space away from the more demanding and often rigid architecture pursuit. His interest in urbanism and design from a physical and emotional standpoint inevitably spilled into his image making, culminating in what is now an impressive body of work spanning close to 15 years. The shift from architecture to photography was bound to happen – in essence, photography provides exaltation on a sustained level, whereas architecture’s exuberant lure seldom lasts past the conceptual stages.

The ‘Thorns’ photographs are stunning portrayals of shapes and silhouettes, carefully enveloped in thorns collected by the artist himself.
The painstaking images describe Vitkon’s feeling about his homeland: “I collected the first thorns on the family farm where I grew up and brought them to my studio. Today, I have thorns from all over Israel.”

©Eitan Vitkon

While the images evoke the most intimate moments in one’s life: an infant, a kiss, a loving embrace reminiscent of security, stability, and a familiar tenderness, the thorns proclaim Israel’s soul a difficult entity to navigate. If one is searching for relief, it will not be found in Vitkon’s work. All images from the ‘Thorns’ series strive to create a balance, focusing on reverence for reality rather than lament, through the exploration of hidden meanings and
intangible truths. The work strips the skin of reality and transforms it into new time textures, thereby drawing parallels to the depths of the surface we now live in - both literally and symbolically. If skin is the toughest human organ, soft yet strong, then Vitkon succeeds admirably in exposing his metaphoric position on Israel, it’s people, and it’s soul.

©Eitan Vitkon