After
Petach Tikva Museum of Art
Curator: Hads Maor
December 2005-April 2006
“Tal Shoshan’s work confronts those exiting the museum, dominating the entrance unto the exhibition spaces in reverse, as it were. The figure featured the work looks straight into the center of the space, towards the viewer, its hand slightly extended, open and stretched out, as if signaling something to those wishing to enter ore exit the exhibition space. The hand’s position is analogous to what is habitually perceived in western cultures as a ‘stop’ sign, characterizing the figure as one striving to preserve the space of this private body. Or even to prevent visitors from entering the exhibition space or leaving its bounds. In Far Eastern culture, the hand’s posture signifies a ‘mudra’ (Buddhist gesture) meaning ‘ Fear Not’, hence it signals to the potential viewer something diametrically opposed to the meaning of the sigh in the western culture. At the very entrance to the exhibition the viewer is thus faced with a sign which is not subsequent mental and emotional progtession.
Beyond the ambiguity of the image as a lingual sign, the work also contains several layers and ambiguities in terms of structure and essence.
The Artist’s work process included self-photography with exposed upper body, ink printing of the work o quality woodless paper’ and tracing the outline of the printed image with pastels. Neither photography nor painting, the end result interferes with viewer’s ability to examine ad gauge its degree of mediumal, ad singular ‘autheticity’. For the exhibition the Original work was scaned ad reprinted I ink-jet print on canvas (I 135x 195 cm sizes), a process which ostensibly completed yet another loop I the work’s cyclical metamorphoses between photography, printing, photography, ad so forth.
