Participating Artists
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Untitled, 2006, ink on Mylar, 60 x 90 cm, courtesy of the Brandes Family Collection, Tel Aviv
Ofri Cnaani
Ofri Cnaani's drawings are reminiscent of filmic episodes or film stills, showing a wealth of allusions to art history. Just like her complex video installations, her drawings, which depict grotesque, violent scenes, extend her fascination with relations of power and domination and the tension between private and public spheres. Press Conference (2006) and Make Up Sex after the Ceasefire (2006) were created during the Second Lebanon War. It seems that the human figure, or "the figure of humanity" as the artist puts it, has been distorted beyond recognition - as if evil itself has poured itself into its body. The drawings expose the erotic underbelly of the fighting and blur the distinction between battlefield and bedroom.
In a later series, "Two Dimensional Days" (2007-2008), Cnaani focuses on the choreography of the power relations in the contemporary art world. Curators, artists, dealers and collectors are shown as they appear during art fairs and openings alongside the artwork they so desire. An orgy of violence and fantasy blends the art with its viewers. The figure of the art connoisseur as seen in these drawings is exaggerated, like art itself, to its eccentric extreme - to the degree that it is unclear who started the provocation.
Born in Kibbutz Cabri, 1975; lives and works in New York
http://ofricnaani.com/
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