Avner Ben-Gal (b. 1966, Israel) is a painter whose work ranges between figurative preciseness and expressive abstract: two polar opposites that clash and complete each other. His are hybrid figures, paintings and drawings that appear like dreams or scenes from damaged film, with a controlled violence that seems to remain inside the confines of the work only thanks to painting’s muteness. Ben-Gal’s works attend to painting’s ability to capture moments, feelings and sensations, yet also to the sense in which painting is experienced as something threatening and obscure. Ben-Gal has held numerous solo exhibitions in Israel and Europe including a major mid-career exhibition at Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2009.
Related exhibitions: The Towering Inferno, Potent Wilderness
Avner Ben-Gal , Orphan , 2009 , Oil and acrylic on canvas
Avner Ben-Gal , America is finished, 2010, Felt pens and acrylic on canvas
Avner Ben-Gal, Bees, 2010, Acrylic on canvas
Avner Ben-Gal, First day of school is always the hardest, 2010 , acrylic on canvas
Avner Ben-Gal, Untitled, 2010, Acrylic on canvas
Avner Ben-Gal, Untitled, 2010, pencil on paper
Avner Ben-Gal, Dragonfly wants to fuck with you, 2010, pencil on paper
Avner Ben-Gal, Withdrawal, 2010, Pencil on paper