 |
 |
| PUBLICATIONS | |||
|
|||
|
Boundless Painting by Irena Gordon Early Scenes - Late Influences "Of all the art made under these conditions and to this purpose, the most unusual is that in which childhood verve and playfulness emerge unscathed though profoundly informed by childhood hardship and its aftermath - art that looks like in order to recapture the energies that made initial survival possible in order to apply them to the still harsher constrains and more strenuous exaltations of adulthood - art that, instead of complaining, confides and celebrates." (p.22 Elizabeth Murray.) Although Gerstein does not speak much of his childhood and of first influences, an abundance of landscapes, of figures and of sensations from this period flood his work, both in paintings and sculptures. Childhood scenery and sensations reminiscent of infancy are very much alive, pounding throughout his art's changing forms. Their various incarnations can be traced back to his first works as a mature artist: The figurative paintings of the 70's, his family members - parents and twin brother - appear in numerous compositions, most of them dramatic. The family figures in these works, which are mainly in watercolor, are set either indoors, in lugubrious, somewhat threatening, rooms or in specific outdoor settings like the Dead Sea, where the family used to spend their annual vacation, and which are rendered as static and oppressive. Yet, the intimidating atmosphere is always accompanied by elements of irony and of the grotesque, even humor and playfulness, which are imbedded in a frantic line and much exaggerated appearance of the figures: they are either very thin or very fat; their facial expression is theatrical in its caricaturist and dramatic presence and they are disclosed in apparent embracing, intimate or awkward situations. In later family watercolors of the late 70's and early 80's, Gerstein's own children appear - their figures interchanging with those of his parents and brother in the early works. Gerstein was born in the Gheula neighborhood in Jerusalem in 1944 as an identical twin brother to Jonathan. Although born four years earlier, Gerstein and his brother belonged to the first generation of the newly born Israeli state - a generation of children who were supposed to be free of the recent horrifying past in Europe, while embracing a clear stance of self confidence accompanied by an overpowering sense of freedom and rejuvenation .The Gersteins were a hard working family with modest means and with little connection to art. David's father was the son of a leather worker, who came to Palestine on his own at the age of 18, his only baggage was a set of simple knives that his father, David's grandfather, gave him in order to continue practicing the trade and earn a living. He and his brother (David's uncle) were the only survivors of their family who stayed behind in Europe..At the age of four, the Gerstein family moved to the city of Ramat Gan, where David's father opened a small leather workshop and David or Dudu, as he became known, worked with him side by side during his adolescence. In an interview taken in 2002, Gerstein acknowledges: "Childhood memories are the most dominant element to someone who makes art. I'm sure that things that were experienced in childhood become a motif in adolescence. When I think why I am now cutting shapes and figures I get back to my father who was a leather cutter. He had a workshop for cutting leather and I would help him. This thing of taking and cutting up a shape seems to be essential in my life. Making paper cutouts is a popular Jewish tradition which I'm probably part of. My drawing line, which is very clear, cuts the shape. It is a definite closed line which lends itself to cutting."(The Big Book of Illustrators, p.120). Though close to his father, and influenced by the handiwork and craft embedded in the trade, there is no doubt David was especially close to his mother whose figure had penetrated many of his works. She was exceptionally talented in traditional women's crafts like sewing, knitting and crochet. Her changing yet unfailing portrayal as the woman/wife/mother figure who appears persistently in a multitude of compositions and forms in his work is unavoidable. We see her present in family scenes that populate his watercolors and drawings during the 70's: the figure of a mother lying on a sofa or a bed in a simple looking room and the little child peeping from behind the open door; the motherly character in numerous intimate and ironic scenes in the "Balcony" series. Soon after, in the Dead Sea paintings, she makes her appearance in the woman's role in of social and matrimonial interactions that take place against the static, morbid and powerful, landscape. When Gerstein decides to create sculptures, the first cardboard cutout he makes, is inspired by his early childhood memories of his mother riding bicycles. In later even recent paintings she appears as a different persona in each - once as the woman-child, both innocent and seductive, once as the reclining lover, once as the embodiment of the Jewish-Polish mother. Gerstein's entire adolescence was absorbed with painting and with scenes and landscapes of urban houses and streets of the suburban town as well as those of the big city - Tel Aviv. He and his brother were both immersed in art from the age of four. Painting was their mutual inclination and hobby while they were child protégé as far as art was concerned. They used to draw and paint together hours on end, competing and learning from each other, making each other enthusiastic and excited about art - quite an unusual preoccupation at that early age. Some of Gerstein's very early paintings show a great liking for bold color and intensive movement which predominates his identified style today. The love and appreciation of art were his own autonomous and individual aspiration, an aspiration nurtured, to a great extent, by the bond and the rivalry between him and his brother. They both roamed the city streets, together, its galleries and cultural events, trying to absorb as much as they could. Tel Aviv was then the White Bauhaus city. The prosaic urban modern conglomeration, was very different in its ambiance from Jerusalem. His brother Yoni was the first to travel to Paris after his military service and immediately enrolled in the Beaux-Arts, where he was much appreciated and praised. David followed him two years later. One can depict the image of twins in several early works by David Gerstein.. In all of these the image of the twins has a certain sinister and uneasy atmosphere about it. They are dressed alike and they either cling to each other or are situated very closely together as if someone has glued them together. Their expression is an unhappy one: "I used to draw lots of identical twins in my paintings in order to break free, like exorcism."(The Big Illustrators", p.120). A few years after returning from Paris, Yoni became religious and disconnected himself completely from his family and previous life. Gerstein: "Since then an immense gap opened between us...Although he has returned to painting and does illustrations for religious books and caricatures for newspapers of the Orthodox community, he had relinquished all independent judgment... It is heart breaking to see how Yoni's immense talent is being wasted away..."(Jerusalem, 22/8/97)
|
|||