Page 18 - Art-in-Israel

Frank was born on the southernmost tip of the African continent, the “Isanagi” signify “IzaNAGI no Mikoto,” the male creative divinity who
meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic oceans, in a country wracked made the mountains and rivers, woodland and plants in our land of
by racial discrimination. Japan? Alternatively, does it signify the “nagi” of “yunagi,” the
Having been initiated to white Anglo-Saxon modernistic art, he Japanese word for “evening calm”? Turning to the first element of
moved to live in Jerusalem, sacred land of the Jewish, Christian, and the word “isa,” one wonders whether this could possibly indicate
Islam religions, where the air is ever-charged with the threat of the prophet Isaiah. Or maybe I am letting my imagination get the
conflict. All the while engaged in his creative work, he finds himself better of me and am reading a little more into it than there is.
in a position of constantly having to affirm the identity of the culture
that he bears on his own shoulders. Jerusalem is, after all, the Created as it was in Israel, however, this work abounds in the kind
crossroads where the cultures of Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. of geographical conditions, historical background, and context that
are conducive to such diverse images, associations, and
Confronting the viewer as if on the point of attack, the shark jaws interpretations. When it comes to the photograph’s hidden meaning
make an abrupt appearance, bringing an eerie aura, a sense of (if indeed it contains a hidden meaning at all), the work would seem
foreboding; they reek of intimidation, threat, and danger. The dog to leave viewers with the freedom to interpret it as their fancy takes
that happens to be passing by possibly symbolizes the white man, or them.
could also be viewed as a sacrificial goat. Could the jaws then
possibly point to the America of the Hollywood movie, or maybe Further, behind the creative process that led to this work lies a way
fangs bared against the white man (the white dog), or a threat to the of thought and a perspective on the world and universe in which
white man? the ever-opposite cosmic dual forces of Yin and Yang dominate the
Could the crimson that threatens to quench its heat in the calm whole of creation.
evening sea suggest the heat of strife? Does the “nagi” element of Hiroyuki Nakatsuka
Chief Curator, Cultural Affairs Division
Osaka Prefecture Government

EXIT
STAINLESS STEEL 2002, 400X400X400CM
(GAN SACHAR /JERUSALEM)

5 STRUCTURES (ALIENS)

PAINTED METAL, 500CM /OIL DRUMS 75CM DIAMETER /PIPER 5CM DIAMETER
(THE NEW HARBOR AREA /CAPE TOWN /SOUTH AFRICA)

ART IN ISRAEL ART IN ISRAEL
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WORLD OF ART WORLD OF ART