GIDEON RUBIN
2020-06-01Rubin creates paintings where the figures are rendered without their facial features. Thus the gaze of the viewer is not captured by physiognomy, but by the atmosphere unleashedbby the entire images; the subjects are characterized by their positions and attitudes, by the way they move in space and dress.
Evanescent and melancholic, Rubin’s works speak of a past or a recollection that has surfaced in memory. The paint is dense and seductive, with fluid strokes that describe intimate atmospheres and complicity between the subjects portrayed. With their forcefully evocative character, these figures trigger direct empathy in the viewer. The subjects are depicted during everyday activities; the artist draws us into moments of elusive intimacy. A couple walking with arms around each other, a young woman undressing, flowers gradually wilting become part of a temporal dimension of slowness and calm. Landscapes are barely indicated settings, colors that stand out, revealing parts of untouched canvas.
The delicate colors used by Rubin, sandy tones, grayish blues, milky whites, combined with the multiple brushstrokes on the canvas suggest the desire to bring something almost forgotten back to life and give it permanence. The viewer can complete the missing details using his own memories.
Opposite – Red Trousers, 2019
Exhibition runs through to October 10th, 2020
Monica De Cardenas
Via Francesco Viganò 4
20124 Milan
Italy
