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Art in Blue and White
The blue and white colors carry great symbolism for the Jewish people and for the Israeli nation in the spiritual, religious, ideological and artistic respects.
Thoughts about blue and white becoming the national colors of the Jewish people were first voiced by the Austrian Jewish poet Ludwig August Frankl (1810-1894) in his poem entitled “Judah’s Colors” written in 1864 after a visit to Jerusalem. In 1884, on the occasion of Moses Montefiore’s 100th birthday, the colors of the national flag were presented to the general public.
The colors were based on the Tallit – the white and blue striped prayer shawl that is worn during the morning Jewish services, during the Torah service, and on Yom Kippur and other holidays, as mentioned in the bible: "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel” (Num.15:37-41).
In 1885, in a letter to Baron Hirsh, Benjamin Zev Herzl wrote that the white color in the Israeli flag symbolizes the new and pure life that awaits Jews in Israel, and the blue, taken from the prayer shawl, symbolizes the connection to the past, to tradition and Judaism and serves as an eternal connection between the Jewish state and the Diaspora.
The flag was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891 but was already used In 1885, by Israeli Belkind, the head of the BILO pioneer organization, in the third-year anniversary celebrations of the Rishon Le Zion settlement. The “Bnai Zion Educational Society” in Boston also used the same flag in 1891. The flag was then officially accepted by the first Zionist congress in Basel in 1891.
On October 28, 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel the flag was adopted by the State of Israel and mandated by a law in 1949. The flag depicts two horizontal blue stripes on a white background and in its center, the Shield of David – the Magen David.
The art historian, Sara Hinski, wrote that the ruling establishment, which aims to create an exclusive Jewish nationality, allowed the artistic establishment to create and define the Jewish-Israeli identity via language and art. The “Establishment” prefers a national culture and yet the cultural-artistic establishment (which includes artists, critics, curators and the viewers) finds its own independent expression by giving a wider interpretation to cultural symbols and codes, such as the blue and white colors. Regardless, there is no doubt that there is an important meaning to these two colors and that the artists are well aware of the symbols and the meaning associated with their use.
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Culturally and socially, there is a prevalent meaning to the blue-white colors in the frame work of local ceremonies, local customs and Middle Eastern culture. Most of the houses in Israel, Greece, Italy and even in Spain are painted white as it is a color which is well-suited for the hot climate of these countries. The white color is a mythical color which portrays simplicity, cleanliness, openness and innocence. Blue has traditionally been used to protect homes against the “evil eye” and other ghostly demons.
Blue/White exhibition, artists show a creative and varied use of these two colors. Some prefer using one tone to another; others integrate them and use them to demonstrate their artistic intent.
Menashe Kadishman, the recipient of the Israel Prize for the Arts, created his mythical sheep solely in the color white, the sign of innocence, naivety – the symbol of passive victimization. The use of the color white alone strengthens his intent to symbolize the need for peace and stability in the Middle East. In the work of Yadid Rubin, a member of Kibbutz Givat Haim, a rural view appears in a valley which is painted entirely in shades of white and yellow. The whitening of the scenery creates a renewed utopian environment. This arouses in the viewer peaceful feelings and the understanding for the need to calm the local war-torn scenery.
For other artists, the color blue is used for the similar purpose of symbolizing their artistic intentions. Yigal Ozeri uses blue tones as he depicts industrial scenery with its giant, slightly threatening and apocalyptic epic scenes inside the Reading Power Station in Tel Aviv; scenes which symbolize the artist’s fear of the future. In contrast, Michael Lazar and Marc Lewis created one of their signature torsos. A powerful sculpture in aluminum with the white of the metal showing through the blue-painted torso, it is a show of strength and optimism. In Amir Cohen’s work, the blue iconic figure creates awareness to the human tragedy of Sderot - a city under siege.
Other artists use the shapely form of the flag and the symbolism associated with its structure, to create an artistic interpretation in a rational manner. The veteran artist Alima, creates a painting where two lines of blue and white encircle an empty frame. Her work raises questions as to the lack of substance in our own world and serves as a direct message for the “structured world” which surrounds us.
David Ginton, an artist and art critic, creates a series of flags in which he multiplies the lines of the flag, changes the graphic design of its outlines, and thus raises questions which are connected to our impression of change itself and the connection to the flag which is sanctified as a symbol.
In contrast, the sculptor Doron Efrat creates a Magen David out of recycled materials and confronts us with a naked and colorless flag while Ilana Yaron paints a runny and bleeding Star of David on a blue background.
Joshua Neustein, a political artist who divides his time between Israel and New York, confronts questions of identity using a reversed map of Israel, which is wrapped in white colored industrial plastic bubble-wrap.
Ido Barel – the head of the art department at the Bezalel Academy of Art - makes use of a road sign on which the word Independence appears. The work is part of a traffic sign which Barel found in the trash and raises questions about our presence and our struggle for independence and recognition.
These artists raise questions while challenging the viewer to share their daily misgivings in an attempt to create a dialogue between artist and audience.
The Blue-White colors allow the artists to create a world which connects them with their past and with the world of Jewish tradition and its codes. Ofra Cymbalista presents a metal sculpture which she placed on a surface of salt in a bowl used for cooking – symbolizing Jewish Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel. For Jack Jano, a Moroccan Jew living in the Galilee, these colors serve as a basis for a journey to the unique shape of his father’s house in the city of Fez, Morocco. Yossi Kady exhibits a white immortal figure symbolizing the divine spirit as portrayed in the work of Marc Chagall.
A young religious artist, Etay Gabai, integrates symbols from quotes originating from the world of biblical verse and Jewish tradition. Gabay combines blue and white with significant words which connect the viewer to “higher and lower” worlds and confront us with personal questions relating to existence and belief.
Yoel Gilinski uses the colors as a base to create folkloristic reliefs relating to rituals and local decorative cultural textures. For Kochi Doktori, another Israeli artist living in NYC, these themes are translated into one word: OR which means light. This is the inner light which is taken from his family’s traditions and his past to form a continuous light in his life in New York. These symbols and themes also find a fascinating creative development in the works of Zadok Ben-David who works both in London and Israel. Ben-David’s work creates a bridge between the past and the future and between motifs taken from various ancient cultures as he finds diversity and identity in existing myths. Dorit Feldman combines traditional and scientific motifs with shades of blue and white. The sky and earth form her own cosmic space and are a part of her everyday artistic language.
The reality of daily life in Israeli appears in many of the works in the exhibition in connection to the Blue-White colors. Avishai Finkelstein, a young photographer, portrays a military barricade where the artist served during his army reserve duty - a part of every male Israeli’s life. A similar view appears in the work of Tomer Ganihar, an Israeli artist who exhibited at the 2007 Venice Biennale, which reveals a rocket launcher during the Gulf war.
It seems impossible to deal with Israeli art without mentioning the numerous wars in which the country has been involved in for over its 60 years of existence. The group of blue painted figures stationed on the roof of a water tower in the work of the sculptor Avi Shaham is also an integral part of Israeli scenery, which connects the viewers to local history and settlement of the Galilee and the Negev.
Dorit Yaacobi takes the viewer back to the history books with her relief work where a pistol is placed next to a blue book. Yaacobi, who lives and creates in the city of Arad in southern Israel, has been dealing for many years with Jewish and Israeli links to spiritualism and integrates them with her own experience as a woman, a mother and an independent artist.
The existence of salient Israeli symbols and scenery can also be seen in the work of Yaacov Hafetz who re-created a mosaic, which quotes a painting of the “Mashchera” - a cut-down branch which serves to create the coal to light the fire; a motif connecting Jews and Arabs. The creation of the mosaic immediately connects the viewer with the numerous historical and archaeological sites scattered around Israel.
Blue/White exhibition unveils a small yet diverse aspect of the connection of Israeli artists to the colors of the national flag of Israel. The 60th anniversary is an ideal point in time to have a cultural and artistic self-examination by each of the artists, as they confront their personal motifs and symbols with those of their collective past. The viewers are invited to join this journey of exploration where each artist shares with the viewers their personal story from contemporary Israel.
Doron Polak, curator
International Artists’ Museum
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BLUE/WHITE EXHIBITION
Curator of Exhibits, Programs and Collections,
Mizel Museum:
Georgina Kolber
Executive Director, Mizel Museum:
Ellen Premack
Art Blue and White Festival Initiated and Produced by Doron Polak, Amir Cohen In collaboration with ADA Art Consulting
Exhibition Curator:
Doron Polak
U.S. Co-Curator:
Ayelet Danielle Aldouby
Concept and Design:
Amir Cohen / FourBrand
Photography:
Yoram Reshef Studio (Leon Kagan)
Pre-Production Photography:
Avishai Finkelstein
Ora Abrahami
Ronit Agassi
Alima
Ido Barel
Zigi Ben Haim
Zadok Ben David
Mirit Caspi
Amir Cohen
Pinhas Cohen Gan
Koki Doktori
Norma Drimmer
Doron Efrat
Dorit Feldman
Avishai Finkelstein
Itai Gabai
Tomer Ganihar
Gidon Gechtman
Moshe Gershuni
David Ginton
Yoel Gilinsky
Varda Ghivoli, Ilan Gelber
Naftali Golomb
Yaacov Hefetz
Jack Jano
Menashe Kadishman
Yossi Kady
Amos Kenan
Marc Lewis, Michael Lazar
Dan Levin
Margalit Mannor
Ilan Nahshon
Miriam Neiger
Joshua Neustein
Yigal Ozeri
Israel Rabinovitz
Yadid Rubin
Michael Sgan Cohen
Avi Shaham
Keren Shpilsher
Yehezkel Streichman
Yigal Tumarkin
David Wakstein
Dorit Yaacobi
Ilana Yaron
Ofra Zimbalista
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