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"SDOM AND GOMORA" 50/35 cm Oil on cardboard 2004 |
Leora Benkel Bazra , Israel Telephone : 972-9-7482173 052-2460853 054-4889538 Education: 1972-1975 – Graphics 1973-1975 – Painting Workshop 1992 – Ceramic sculpting course Solo Exhibitions 2002 – At the Co-operative Village Movement Gallery in Tel Aviv At the Kfar-Saba Discount Bank 2003 - At the Azrieli Observatory Gallery in Tel Aviv At Givataim Discount Bank 2004 - At the Azrieli Observatory Gallery in Tel Aviv At the Bible Museum in Tel Aviv At the Kastra Art Center in Haifa 2006 – At the Park Gallery in Raanana 2007 - At the Tel Aviv University At the Co-operative Village Movment Gallery in Tel Aviv Groupe Exhibitions 2003 – At the Winery in Rishon Lezio At the Co-operative Village Movement Gallery in Tel Aviv 2004 – At the Azrieli Observatory Gallery in Tel Aviv At the Co-operative Village Movement Gallery in Tel Aviv At the Painters and Sculptures Association Gallery in Holon 2005 - At the Azrieli observatory Gallery in Tel Aviv At the Castle museum at Lublijana Slovenia At the painters and Sculptures Association Gallery in Holon At the Co-operativ Village Movement Gallery in Tel Aviv 2006 - At the Kastra Art Center in Haifa At the Bible Museum in Tel Aviv At the Municipal Gallery in Lion France 2007 - At the Achuzat Bait gallery Raanana At the Shtienberg house Holon At the academic center "Peres" Rechovot At the Bible Museum in Tel Aviv At the Congress center – Haifa/ Acre theater At the Hanita Museum At the Gerrar Bachar theater - Jerusalem Miscellaneous 2003 - Leads a painting workshop at Ilanot, a rehabilitation community for drug addicts 2001 – Designed and painted the setting for the kids' theater play "Doodido" 1990-Present – Teaches painting for children and adults in her home studio Her art works can be found in privet collections in the US, Australia and Israel Assosiation Chairman of the Painters Association of the Co-operative Village Movement Member of the Holon Painters and Sculptures Association Member of the Givataim and Ramat Gan Painters and Sculptures Association *************************************************** Leora Benkel constructs in her paintings a new fantastic-imaginary reality at which we find ourselves gazing, while trying to peel its intricate surface and reach the secret of its essence. Leora's works consists of a trail of longing and memories, yearnings, dreams, joys and daily scenes. Along the years the artist accomplished a mass of paintings with formulated style, and a personal and typical handwriting. The paintings show the surrealistic search of the mysterious and the unknown, as well as realistic images based on real visuals like country homes, etc. To these she adds combinations of ornamentation and decoration pieces handled like artistic, colorful embroidery, which at times conceal and relieve hard feelings and at times demonstrate a conscious choice of the vital dimension of beauty and light, oriented towards experimental, liberated painting .The birds are consistent presence in Benkel's works. Their recurring image is part of the artist's unique, encrypted strategy of artistic expression: they are the narrative that contains the allegory and the myth: they raise associations and connotations and emphasize the virtual reality formed in the paintings through a calculated process. The bird's ability to fly has bound its entity to ideas and meanings in the various traditions. It signifies the relation between earth and sky, the spiritual and the worldly, innocence and purity. Leora stresses the bird's vulnerability and its exceptional ability of navigation. The winged creatures carry loads of memories of her childhood in moshav Bazra. In the paintings they are transformed and humanized, at times with humoristic nuances, even when the theme refers to aging processes etc. Sometimes the birds are reflected in the paintings as beautiful creatures and sometimes as raging creatures, with a pointed, threatening beak, and bristling feathers. The architectural structures in the paintings show the artist's creative imagination, while the colorful richness emphasizes her being a powerful creator. ORIT LOTRINGER Curator | ||
| It was painted after a terrorist act, when terrorist blew up a bus and many people were killed. | ||||
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THE BIRD 50/70 cm Acrilic on cardboard 2006 |
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It's the bird of the soal from the paradice. |
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"AFTER THE WAR" 50/70 cm Acrilic on cardboard 2006 |
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"AFTER THE TSUNAMI" 50/70 cm Acrilic on cardboard 2006 |
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| After the big tsunami in the Indean ocean. | ||||
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