Artist: Ori Aviram
Artist Statement
Color, oil paint, is the main issue in my art. Color as a matter that can be sculpted, shaped, engraved and shoveled. In most of my paintings color is strong and dominant, while line and composition – though not neglected – are secondary. In addition to canvas, I often paint on old books, bibles, art books, monetarynotes, accountbooks, comics, etc. I’m intrigued by text, print and painting relations. Perhaps because I was a bookworm as a child, I enjoy erasing words with paint. A kind of renewed self-definition. Being a 20th century product, realism, modernism, and abstract are my points of reference, and the periods that influenced and shaped me. I create from an internal place, but the traditions of art and their history are familiar to me and presence clearly in my background. I believe that art cannot be created in a vacuum. At first, my paintings were figurative. The bible and mythology were the subjects that interested me the most. Furthermore, I drew from observation. In the past few years, I’ve become more absorbed in the abstract. Basic forms intrigue me, I keep reverting to them obsessively and never quench. The free play and the relations between shapes and colors are what I relish. I enjoy creating series. They release me from the need to decide What to draw and let me concentrate and work solely on the How. I go back again and again to a certain form or composition and explore it thoroughly. When I work, I’m surprised by the gap between intention and outcome.
Artist Biography
Ori Aviram was born in Jerusalem, Israel in 1965. His artistic autodidactic life began during his military service, when to alleviate the long stand-by hours, he would make clay portraits of his comrades in the Air Force’s rescue and evacuation unit. After his discharge he went to university, acquiring a degree in philosophy and cinematography. For several years he has been working as a producer and editor in public and commercial sectors of the communication industry. It was during this period that he shifted gradually to painting. What began as a hobby evolved into a full-time career. He is currently working in Tel Aviv devoting his time to oil painting. In addition to canvas, he often commits blasphemy by painting on old books, bibles, art books, etc. Started as mostly figurative painter, Aviram found himself mainly drawn to the abstract and basic forms and their relations with colors.