New Blue
Yam Shalev is originally from Tel Aviv. He has spent his last year painting between Berlin and Paris. In discussing his newest body of work he writes: “My paintings grow out of my observational personality: I regard myself more as an observer than a participant in the situations I find myself in. Through my paintings, I use this lens to analyze human behaviors, scenes, and interactions—learning about myself and my relationship through my surroundings.
I find a large conversation about our contemporary culture around the table and food, that also expands around our still-life surroundings and environments. There are endless possibilities to not only experience people in places and times, but also to describe their experiences without the need to include the actual participants. What does our physical “stuff” say about us? Sometimes I find it both fascinating and challenging in a world which mainly focuses on the figurative representation of the human experience and story, while our surroundings and debris of our experiences become more and more of what defines us in Western culture.” Creating intimate scenes that reflect a thoughtful moment in time, Shalev invites the viewer into the room—almost as if he is offering at seat at the dinner table. Loaves of bread, glasses of wine and whole fish as well as picked bones beckon.
“Throughout my body of work I take an introspective look into our celebratory, intimate, romantic, and vulnerable moments—and share those personal experiences in a visual way. With the focus on finding repetitive objects and places in these compositions, we can begin to define an experience, a culture, and a group of people without including the participants.” The power of these paintings is what they leave out—the people. A longing for home and a moment to reflect make it all too clear that there is a space for yearning in an empty room and a sadness in a meal long passed. All we can do is remember and hope for a sense of permanency in wherever we break bread. In Yam Shalev’s work, there is always space at the table.
About Yam Shalev
Yam Shalev was born in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1996 and currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. In recent years, he has gained attention from the media and collectors from his presentations at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami, FL (2022) and CAN Art Fair, Ibiza, Spain (2023). Shalev has participated in artist residencies in Singapore, Italy and most recently in Brooklyn, NY at Mack Art Foundation.
He has held solo exhibitions at Room57 Gallery, New York, NY; Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece; Cuturi Gallery, Singapore; Lorin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and Im Grünen Bereich Studio, Berlin, Germany. Forthcoming solo exhibitions will be held at Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL (October 2024), and Wow Gallery, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (2025).
