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For his third show at Praz-Delavallade Gallery, Adi Nes presents a
selection of photographs from his new series The Village. As in
previous bodies of work, Adi Nes evokes the notions of identity and
masculinity, however The Village distinguishes itself by being
situated in the open country, and more importantly by its references to
Greek tragedy.
In this fictional village that Nes has
created, meticulously staged pastoral images are imbued with an underlying
layer of tension. Nes has said, "Like the State of Israel, this village
appears as a small place created in the wake of tragedy. It's an idyllic
valley with wide vistas, green fields and trees full of fruit yet with a
charged atmosphere." Each of the photographs seems to hover either before
or after an action, leaving the action itself open to the viewer's personal
associations. Using archetypal references to tragedy and myth, such as
dichotomies between Apollonian and Dionysian or the use of classical tropes
such as Orpheus or the scapegoat. Adi Nes situates the villagers as
protagonists in an epic tale of isolation and utopianism. As in his
previous series, Nes uses an art historical language to examine
contemporary Israeli identity, statehood, intergenerational relationships,
as well as issues of gender.
The photographs of Adi Nes are
always metaphors. On the surface they appear as if they deal with local
matters connected to conflicts or social tensions. But they can be read in
a number of ways: philosophically, psychologically, influenced by many
cultural sources. The photograph of the dark-skinned boy with the horse is
based on Picasso's Boy Leading a Horse (1906), but he also
symbolizes the outsider and represents alterity and alienation in the
Israeli society. Between all the other blue-eyed boys with light hair, he
represents all those viewed as an "other." This very alienation is
described by Nes to be not only a part of his practice, but also how he
experiences the world. As a homosexual, who grew up in Kriyat Gat, from a
middle-class family of Iranian immigrants, the central theme of his work
has always been identity.
Adi Nes (born 1966 in Kiryat
Gat, Israel) lives and works in Tel Aviv. He is a graduate from the
Photography Department of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in
Jerusalem and since then has become one of Israel's leading artists in the
field of photography. Well-known series of Nes' staged photographs are:
Biblical Stories (2003–2006); Prisoners (2003), which
was first published in the fashion magazine Vogue; Boys
(2000); and Soldiers (1994–2000). His work is part of the
following collections: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; The
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; FNAC-Fonds National d'Art
Contemporain, Paris; NeuflizeVie, Paris; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; The
Jewish Museum, New York; The Tel-Aviv Musuem of Art, Tel Aviv; The Montreal
Museum of Fine Arts, Canada; and The Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco.
For all inquiries please contact Silvia Ammon: silvia@praz-delavallade.com or +33
1 45 86 20 00.
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