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master

dREW TAL

Lives and works in New York City, USA

SEARCH THE ARTIST ONLINE www.drewtal.com

My art is a personal investigation across cultural bounds into the working for a fashion house in the ‘80’s opened a door into the world of
underlying human themes and common spiritual threads found in fashion. while as a designer, I began photographing fashion models foe
religious, mythological and sexual expression. magazine editorials and advertisement. Shooting fashion was lucrative
growing up in Israel in the ‘60’s was a blessing for me. At that time the but not as satisfying artistically. However, with access to all the modeling
young state was a true melting pot for millions of immigrants from all around agencies; I could easily find subjects for my real passion: my art. Indian,
the globe. Surrounded with such a colorful collage of ethnicities, cultures Asian, Hispanic and Arab beauty is in abundance in new York. when
and religions made me realize from an early age that the world beyond each exotic face in front of my lens, a new art image emerges in my
me was a rich and complex place. This revelation opened my eyes to the mind. A Yemenite face has inspired me to create my own version of St.
exotic, and made me extremely curious about people and their religions, Sebastian, a Pakistani model transformed into ‘the Believer’, a Cuban youth
customs, costumes, histories. It also planed an insatiable desire in me to assumed the image of John ‘the Baptist’, a Spanish artists morphed into
travel to faraway lands. Luckily from the age of fifteen, I have been able the ‘Messiah’…
to realize that desire, and have been traveling extensively throughout In the early ‘90’s, with the introduction of digital software, I began
Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Every journey has brought with it combining my photography with elements of my art texture. Suddenly,
a whole new set of inspirations and a fresh need to create. I responded photographs I had taken while traveling in faraway destinations had
to my creative urge by sketching, illustrating and studying architecture, new potential. Decaying facades in vietnam, Inca walls in Peru, baroque
but from the moment I discovered the power of camera and film, I was cathedrals in Russia, gold Buddha’s in Burma, abandoned temple carvings
hooked on that medium. in India all assumed a new role as they became infused layers of texture
In 1981, my travels brought me to New York. I experienced the fantastic and depth in my art. Patiently I have been merging those old travel images
metropolis up close and felt at home immediately. I never used my return with my conventional photography, creating a medium which is somewhere
ticket. I found New York to be as culturally and ethnically diverse as my between a photograph and a painting, outputting my images onto textured
birth country, except on a much grander scale. New York’s ethnic people media, such as canvas or silk gives my art an added depth and enhancers
would become one of the main inspirations for my artistic expression. it’s spiritual, mystical and provocative nature.

 FaItH, 2004 MULTI-MEDIA PRINT ON CANvAS 45x45 IN. /114x114 CM.  BLUe, 2005 MULTI-MEDIA PRINT ON CANvAS 60x38,5 IN. /152x98 CM.

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masters of today