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Hagigat1,
Interview by Eitan Buganim
Originally
published in Timeout Tel Aviv, 16.06.2011
Aline Alagem in
a new show of realistic paintings, staring her friends during a party
You had a party,
and painted the photographs taken in it. Why?
“It
came from a place of making a group portrait in a given moment of a
Tel Avivian night out, an attempt to talk about identity in the least
mannerist manner that I can, the most naturalistic, if you can say
that. I was trying to grasp at the local context, to cull my actions
in it and find out how I am creating my identity on all of its
parameters. It was very important to me to talk about Tel Aviv and
about Israel, not in a forced way but the closest to how I am
experiencing it, and still to feel loyal to a foreign, far away
gaze”.
And
how did the identity turn out?
"I
guess it's still not clear to me how I am placing myself. I don't
want to present the image or my story through the known dogmas. I was
bothered that as an Israeli I have to come up with what kind of story
I'm selling, and especially bothered having two options: ether escape
and suppration that's manifested in the pathology of the foreign
imagery, or primitivism, meaning an obvious, crude use Israeli
imagery symbolism. I want to know what is different about me, what
can I tell differently. Who am I and who are the people surrounding
me”.
So
what option did you choose?
"A
blend. No one will look at these paintings and thing this is LA.
However they do radicalize/ something richer than the local. I was
searching to create a portrait that in it I manage to be at peace
with myself, that I'm saying something about who I really am. It's
not a document, it's a description of my need to understand and place
myself. This whole thing is like fear of death, an attempt to leave
tombstones behind us”.
And
isn't this staying limited to the clique?
"This
is my place, and the choice was out of my own personal biographical
desire. There are no actors here. I needed these people, who are my
friends, because eventually the idea was pretty romantic. From
beginning to end I'm in love with the person I'm painting. Although
I'm aware of the fragility of the move/ act I’m making, every brush
stroke aims to glorify and not to sober, to handle in a loving way in
the image I'm dealing with”.
There
were probably tons of photographs. How did you choose?
"
There were hundreds. I intuitively chose concrete images that rise to
life thanks to the person in it and not a party statement. I wanted
the flare in the eyes, the glance, the magic, the dialogue with the
viewer, the thing I could not control at the party. Usually I plan
everything ahead, so it was hard for me to ge for a project where I
have no idea what will come out from it. At the party I really was
pretty drunk and things happened by themselves”.
So
what was the urgency for this project, actually?
"I
have no better option than doing what only I can do. You can stretch
yourself to make conceptual art, to sharpen systems of reaction and
space, but where are you in all of it? Fuck it, I don't believe in
that. I believe that I have to focus on what's mine the most. In any
case there's no chance I can base mt art on paraphrases, so since it
scares me so much hoe everything resembles everything, I go back to
the classic dimension of the glance, the impressionism, the
fascination”.
Does
the fascination cancel the critical aspect?
"The
critical aspect that strives under things will always be present. It
offers the fading of things, the possibility that non of this
actually happened. But that is obvious and not what should be in the
top hierarchy of my work. Also as a person I don't want to be
bitter.”
But
it sounds like you have something to say about the situation.
"
What's trendy today here and in general is art that art that allows a
comfortable space for the curiosity coma. The lightness and
nonchalant of the artist is over rated. Usually you'll see a thin,
turbid, art product that takes little space, meaning the most of the
mass occupy s the reading of the viewer that senses his self
importance, that enables the smugness that results from the
interpretive space that he has, to replace an alert, active reading
with a passive state. Standing in front of a Caravaggio masterpiece
the viewer doesn't occupy any space, the painting is the mass. Hence
if the viewer genuinely looks at realism, the confrontation with the
question of what exist beyond the first glance is much sharper. I
feel that there's a lot of power to the marveling realism”.
But
realism is also unnecessary.
"why
isn’t anyone asking what's the benefit or interest in a conceptual
act, but they do in realist painting? Enough, this question is
tiring. I'm interested in talking about painting and not photography,
because in painting you fell the mass, the hand that stroke the
curve/ It's pretty desperate, but I do it in order to prove to myself
that I have it, that I’ve made it mine”.
The
show is titled Flash Powder.
"It's
used for fireworks, and fireworks are like the Tel Avivian nigh out
with the bright light, the glaces tapping, the deafening volume, it
happens so fast and leaves nothing. There's no other place in the
world with as much need to suppress or release in order to party like
this. I hope that the same ratio between the decadent situation and
the day that preceded, is the same one in the painting as well. I
wanted to say something about this place with love, compassion and
faith, and still allow life- the violent, gray florescent, the fact
that as an Israeli and as an artist you never know what tomorrow's
going to be like- to happen”.
1A
drug popular in local party scene
Yonatan
Amir, Exhibition review
In
the praise of intuition
Maximalism,
Avni Institute of Arts and
Design Tel Aviv
Originally
published in Israel Ha'yom (Israel
Today),
12.09.2009
An
Ambitious yet not pretentious
group exhibition in the name of
Maximalism that was
curated by Aline Alagem, is showing at Avni Institute of Arts and
Design Tel Aviv at the
moment.
Alagem
is a painter, and it's clear to see that the show was curated by an
artist and not by a curator.
The contexts between the works are intuitive rather than schematic,
and
derive from healthy gut feelings rather than hallow quotes of
critical theory.
A
professional curator wouldn’t have chosen to pair, for example,
Yonathan Shilo with Dana Yoeli or Gabi Kricheli
with Arik Miranda, and the
fact that these installations are made freely, without being rapped
in footnotes, only does
the works good.
The
term Maximalism in art
is immediately linked to minimalism and is considered to be a
response to the minimalistic art movement that evolved
in the 60's and 70's. If minimalism means formative cleanliness
and sterile images- maximalism is categorized in copiousness,
momentum and narrative images. This is the primary definition,
however the years that had
passed since the minimalistic
movement was born, had influenced the formal conception at it's base,
and today one can recodnise minimalistic art in it's style and
maximalist in it's content and vice
versa.
Examples
of this
mentioned reversion can be found in the works of Yonatan Shilo, that
are characterized in geometrical esthetics but hold within a
fundamental
statement,
opposite to the dense to merely burst paintings
of Gabi Kricheli, that succeed to create the impact of an internal
explosion.
“Maximalism
is existentialism” writes Alagem, and refers to the feelings of
urgency and totality that characterizes creation. And indeed, passion
and intensity are present in this beautiful show, that succeeds to be
maximalistic without requiring a massive production.
SCORE:
9.5
11
Dalia Markovitz,
Aline Alagem, "Pink
Noise"
Originally
published in HaKivun
Mizrah Magazine
(Direction
East),
Bimat Kedem Press, No. 14, Summer 2007.
Aline Alagem's
work exposes the materialistic culture of both real and imagined
wealth: stilettos, shiny cars, motorcycles, sunglasses, precise
topiary. The images offer a fraternity of “healthy” consumerism,
relating to Guy Debord's statement that spectacle “is first and
foremost a point of view translated into material”1.
Alagem's
paintings invite us to peek into a fantastical inner space. In
Untitled,
2005 [fig i], we see a geometric white cottage upon a surface of a
neatly trimmed lawn. The house is fully accessorized by large French
doors. Through the glass, a plush living room suite can be glimpsed.
The house's panoramic boastfulness flows into the clear surface of
the swimming pool, the richness surrounding the pool multiplied
through the reflected lights. The fantastical wealth is trapped
between the water's shiny surface and the starless sky. The
intensity of wealth is reflected through a minimalistic aesthetic
flare and precise finishes. This is the depiction of the most
important resource: leisure time. Leisure time, which allows
striding comfortably in delicate, high-heeled shoes, lying in the
soft whiteness of the easy chairs, taking a dip in the seductive
chilled waters of the private swimming pool, perpetuates the
contemporary wealthy lifestyle. The sense of wealth shining from
inside the house simultaneously radiates a sense of shining solitude.
This glow is penetrable, existing independently, surrounded by clear
bands of power and intensity. The industry of fantastic dreams is an
empty and isolated island; a materialistic, impersonal world,
imagined and sneaky. The wealth always exists as a possibility, but
the real touch with it is partial and non consistent. The wealth can
be grabbed for short periods: during an exotic vacation, by wearing
an expensive garment, or in a prestigious restaurant. The wealth will
always be there as a temporary means of managing impression or as an
act of imitation, but never as an item by itself. The global sense of
the shining figure and its simulacrum nature turned it into a mosaic
form of quotes and quote parts. The trial to look rich, like rich, is
doomed to a fragmented journey of search and continuous masquerading
– hybrid life at its best.
The hybrid sense
is found in the gap between the shining shell of the imagined and the
daily routine. The fictitious, shining imagined combination is
present in many works. So, for example in a series of works, devoted
to the name Aline – the artist’s first name, symbolic images of
wealth in the European image, presented in her name. Aline is
harnessing the letters combining her name to the dreams industry: on
one work, the signature is written in an elegant and prestigious
curl, on another work, the letters are cut from a glowing scenery
picture, in another, they are airy blue drops, splashed with strict
negligence and in another they are heavy golden glittering. Also the
private body, carrying the name Aline does not escape the rule of
material. In one portrait it is wrapped in a black elegant neckline,
in another, it is lying in full nude on soft silk bedding.
But the desired
dream wealth is a dual face phenomenon. Those who wish to stage their
lives to its light, risk falling into another image: aggressive,
vulgar. A violent scene of this type appears in an event which
crosses together food, prestige and power. In the work “Untitled”,
a delicate pair of hand wearing an expensive ring, is poking into a
bleeding chunk of live flesh. The flesh lies on a black table,
between glowing cups of wine. The poking hand is the top of the “food
chain” - the incarnation of capitalistic victory. Another work
destroys the mythical “Cinderella effect”. In this work, silver
high heel shoes are shown put on delicate feet, smeared with red nail
polish. But the delicate feet are amputated, splashing blood on the
lush rich area. The work “Heart of Gold” also deals with live
flesh. An extracted heart made of gold stand there in glowing
solitude vis-à-vis the enchanted scene bubble, portraying the power
of money. The violent representations of the wealth drag the viewer
to a different type of hybrid sense: to a complex mixture of
conflicting images, acting against each other. It seems that the work
is positioning in it center the private swimming pool springboard,
summarizing the many faces of the illusive exhibition. The white
springboard is located across from an empty and opaque surface. It's
location exposes the desired space of the wealth as a fake space,
offering a huge leap into the lap of nowhere.
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