NEW WORKS BY TAMAR BEN-ZEEV
We are pleased to announce a new exhibition at Danon Gallery, the paintings of Tamar Ben-Zeev.
Most of the works presented concentrate on portraiture. The artist is not interested in precise, concrete portraits but in the search for characters that represent different shades of human types.
Tamar, who studied in Israel at the Midrasha, continued on to a degree in illustration at the Parson School of Design in New York. As an illustrator she worked with a number of publishers mostly in illustrating children's books and cover design. After a while, she made the transition from book illustration, with all its limitations, to painting which offered her artistic freedom.
The transition from illustration into painting began in smaller formats, and with time she moved to larger canvases. When gazing deeply into Tamar's paintings one discovers a dialogue between different periods within art history, like the influence of the Baroque Period (from Caravaggio) and Expressionism.
Tamar doesn't paint from models but from an accumulation of feelings, perceptions. She does not plan in advance the subject of the painting nor does she utilize "pre-sketching" but paints directly on the canvas or plywood. Her creative process usually begins with an abstract visual association - a spot, a natural grain in the plywood, or stains of color that are drawn spontaneously, from which pops out a character or different object.