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September 25, 2009
An artist's exploration
Painter Jacob Benaroch investigates tradition.
OLGA LIVSHIN
"I knew this moment, this exhibition would happen one day," said Jacob Benaroch on the opening night of his exhibition at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery on Sept. 17. The exhibition's title, The Passionate Colors, reflects the artist's riotous palette. It also resonates with his passion for his newfound mode of self-expression.
Benaroch has always been an artist at heart and by day he is an award-winning graphic designer. He studied graphic design in Israel and in Paris and worked as a graphic designer both in France and Canada.
"I brought my illustrator talent into graphic design," he said. "Many younger designers start with computer, relying on the software for images, but I always start on paper. Computer is just a tool." He has always painted too, but until last year, his painting was relegated to the status of hobby.
In 2008, things changed. "I started getting gray hair," he joked, trying to explain his overwhelming burst of creativity. "It was time I started getting serious about my art ... I wanted to rekindle my artist's passion for color and form that had lain dormant for all these years."
Now, Benaroch spends eight to 12 hours every day in his studio, exploring his alter ego, searching for his artistic voice, technique and emotional sway.
As with everything he does, Benaroch immerses himself completely in his art. He is hungry for new leitmotivs and new media. Determined to satisfy his artistic cravings, he experiments with oil paint and ink, with figurative landscapes and semi-abstract compositions.
"This collection allowed me to find my precise way, to select the themes I want to explore," he said. He also creates sculptures of stone, metal, glass or any other material that strikes his whimsy. Since he committed himself to his artist's life, he has produced more than 80 paintings, hundreds of drawings and the number of sculptures is growing fast.
"Painting is immediate," he mused. "But a sculpture is a more laborious endeavor. It requires more time, more intensity and more contemplation." The public hasn't seen his sculptures yet, although he is planning a future exhibition dedicated exclusively to sculpture. "My wife can't bring herself to part from them yet," he confessed with mock regret.
Benaroch's wife, Diane, is his muse. "She was always nagging me to paint," he said with a smile. She comes to his studio often, nearly every day. A poet herself, she frequently provides inspiration for Benaroch's paintings. "Her poetry has wonderful imagery," he explained. "She would sometimes read a poem to me, and I would envision it and try to convert her word image to a canvas. I would paint, and she would sit on the floor in my studio, and we would discuss the result."
At first glance, the paintings in the current show seem almost too diverse, but there is a deep spiritual kinship between them. They follow the artist's meandering road towards rediscovering the broken links between his art and his life. His past and his family, his experience and his spirituality come to the fore in the paintings and drawings, presenting different sides of his personality.
The three beach paintings, simple and unpretentious, grew out of Benaroch's strolls along the beach in White Rock. He watched people playing with their dogs, watched waves hitting the shore, mourned his recently departed dog, and the paintings sprang to life.
The light, joyful paintings of a blooming meadow were inspired by the French Impressionists. In these pieces, Benaroch experimented with the texture, mood and movement. Grass bends in a light breeze, caressing the ankles of a girl who gathers flowers. The viewer can almost feel the hot haze of high noon, can almost smell the fragrance of summer.
The esthetic transition to the series of Torah paintings seems incongruous, but it's clear in the artist's eye. "The meadow represents the outside beauty of nature. But we can't see it without first finding peace inside ourselves, finding our souls," he said. For him, the images represent the mysticism of the soul, the secrets of sacred knowledge. The figures reading the Torah all have half a face and one eye, as if they endlessly strive to reach clarity, to attain enlightenment. The grey mystery is still inside them, calling to the viewer to follow, contributing to the stark intensity of the paintings. "It's our tradition, our past," said Benaroch. "Without tradition, there is no light."
A deeply spiritual person, the artist is still only in the middle of his journey of self-discovery, still searching for his balance of colors, shapes and thematic connections. New exhibitions and new artistic heights loom on the horizon. "I'm going in the right direction. This is the path," he said.
The Passionate Colors shows until Oct. 17. For more information, visit jccgv.com/home/cultural_art.htm.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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