Nir Hod’s provocative appearance on the Israeli art scene in the early 1990s was viewed as a refreshing change following years of a restrained, intentionally frugal aesthetic tradition and the consecration of intellectual values. His narcissistic personality, his glorification of beauty, and his attraction to the twilight zones of kitsch and camp, alongside a penchant for publicity, soon turned him into a local cultural hero.
The exhibition presents a new body of works from the series “Forever” alongside a site-specific flower installation. While elevating most of the themes he dealt with in the past to new heights, the series of works displays a different tone – maturer, serious and severe. The works address extreme moments, “larger than life” aspects of such themes as childhood and youth, love, life and death, separation, memory and commemoration.
The paintings are based on scenes carefully staged by the artist, photographed and retranslated in a laborious technique of oil painting in monumental dimensions
