Shony Rivnay- IS THAT IT / eclectic-gallery

קרדיט צלם - אלעד שריג

Nulobaz is pleased to present IS THAT IT, works by Shony Rivnay. In this exhibition, Rivnay selected a diverse collection of works from his extensive career, some of which are exhibited here for the first time. On display are pieces from 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2015, and one painting made this year.

The show juxtaposes paintings and sculptures that are both figurative and abstract, demonstrating Rivnay’s negotiation between image-making and non-descript art. This approach enables Rivnay to examine the weight of a symbol, but also ways it is neutralized, and stripped of its meaning. Offering this duality, Rivnay flirts with symbolism and iconography, bestowing each work with multiple entry points and associations. By leaving these works open-ended, and cleverly detaching them from their meaning, we are granted a wider perspective and encounter with the purity of the form.

Rivnay has always been fascinated with the power of symbols. Untitled (2005-2017) is a triptych that includes a painting of a pig, flanked by two abstract works, which transcend the animal’s iconography to a pure pictorial form. 

Recalling an altarpiece, due to its size and layout, the painting’s dramatic quality is further enhanced by the striking depiction of a pig, portrayed with a human eye. Thus, this work is not relegated to one single meaning, but rather signals an unbearable dichotomy, with which we are forced to reckon: on one hand, this composition emphasizes the pig’s corporeal physicality, and on the other, the subject is stripped of its most essential features. The organic forms in red and pink tones are rendered in a coarse application of paint, and are completely consumed by the background that is mostly smooth. The quasi-bodily forms framing the painting in the middle, not only accentuate the pig’s fleshiness, but are redolent of carnivorous behavior, begging the question of whether we see ourselves as the victim or the victimizer, the hunted or the hunter? And, when are we ever fully satiated?

Also included in this show is one of Rivnay’s most iconic works from 2001, Hine Ani. The work’s symmetrical lines and evenly distributed Hebrew letters on the cross, make for a strong Judeo-Christian emblem that embodies Rivnay’s shift of returning and fully committing to art, after years of working in advertisement. This piece metaphorically separates the space, while the vertical and horizontal lines suggest an important aspect in human life, and an overarching theme in this show, that of the power to choose. Just like the triptych painting and other works in this show, this oeuvre also invites viewers to self-examine and question their own actions and motives.

This accumulation of materials and their unveiling in 2020 is no coincidence – they have resurfaced in a tumultuous period of time, where upheaval and chaos around the world are surging rapidly. The context of these specific works resonates with the current social, political and economic conditions we are facing today, and further underscores the uncertainties that have exacerbated due to the global pandemic. Their reemergence is powerful and timely and couldn’t be more inspiring – every piece hits a nerve and extends beyond the gallery. Each work can be viewed as isolated and autonomous, claimed by its own merit. Yet, these oeuvres also become fragments of a larger constellation or ensemble, transforming the gallery into a highly energized site.