GIL & MOTI
A piece of ground
June 20 – July 24, 2009
On the occasion of their second solo exhibition at the Galerie Eric Dupont, the duo of international artists, Gil & Moti, continue their pursuit to restore human relationships within their commnunity.
The gay Isrealï artists present a series of realistic and fantastic landscapes and figures, real and imaginary portraits taken from their intimate journal, inspired by their private and collective memories.
Each work (video, oil on canvas and watercolors) is taken from the personal past of the artists ; Gil & moti both grew up in the midst of the Isreali-Palestinian conflict. They lived through complicated relationships, isolation, the hardships of living in a commnunity and the impossibility of a better life.
The videos from their project Available for You (2008-2009) documents them while helping members of the Arab community in Copenhagen and Rotterdam in their every day tasks. We see them preparing meals for the children of an overworked mother or helping a grocer put away his stock of merchandise. This work is proof that artistic action and thought transformed people’s conscience, even if just for a brief period of time. It was in fact their way of creating a cooperation between Israelïs and Arabs to initiate a conversation and plant the seeds of hope that no political negotiation was able to truly accomplish before.
The oil paintings by Gil & Moti are gentle, immediately understandable and at the same time surprising. At first impact they speak directly to the emotions and then as you look closer the different layers unfold before you. An example is Landscape of Jerusalem (2008-2009) an oil painting : crowned by the golden dome of the mosque Al Aqsa, it seems to be imbued with the spirit of reconciliation deeply desired by Gil & Moti. Thanks to their technique (vivid and bright colors), this landscape, so close and familiar to these two cultures (former place of long lasting dispute) recalls the image of an ideal palace, in great contrast to what is actually hapenning everyday. Another work that represents very well what the artists believe in is the video Fiddler on the roof (2008). It was shot on a sunny afternoon with the dominating skyline of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa. There, a violinist (Yossi Gutmann) passionately plays a hybrid composition of Isrealï and Palestinean hymns.
Gil & Moti, through their work attempt to contribute to a current issue, to bring us closer to what is different, to the other, motivated by the hope for coexistance. Philosophies like humanism and forgiveness are the recurring themes in their work. They give free course to their philosophies through organized, daring, poetic and touching images.