Zadok Ben-David: Black Field

Janet Oh Gallery is pleased to present British-Israeli sculptor Zadok Ben-David¡¯s award-winnig Blackfield exhibition, first to be shown in the Far East. This is his second solo show at the gallery.

Ben-David¡¯s work has often been associated with wit and humour. The culmination of this early period of works was in 1988 when he represented Israel at the Venice Biennale.

Following this turning point, Ben David¡¯s large-scale installations enjoyed considerable success. Evolution and Theory, 1998, another major work, has been exhibited at the Museum Beelden and Zee, Schevengen, Netherlands and the San Francisco Art Institute. This body of work spurred Ben David¡¯s exploration of scientific knowledge, discoveries and paradoxes, which continued to be a central thene to his practice.

Black Field is Ben David¡¯s latest work proclaimed ¡°the best single work that the¡¦ UK-based sculptor has produced during his twenty five-year career¡±(Time out London). It further pursues his fascination with optical illusion and science as a vehicle of progress. This major installation consists of over 3000 acid-etched stainless steel miniatures, painted black. They seem to echo botanical or herbal illustrations of the Victorian era. Individually, these ¡°flowers¡± seem to be a shadow and embody another shadow of a shadow ¡° growing¡± out of a brilliant white ground. In its entirety, as the title suggests, this immaculate installation appears ghostly, giving the viewer an almost eerie sense of serenity.

Viewed from one vantage point this magnificent installation is stark, almost startling. But walking around the work, its monochromaticity is miraculously transformed into a riot of colours. A ¡°Wizard od Oz moment¡± would aptly describe it. Blackfield is witty as it is effective in its simplicity. In September 2007, it was awarded the Grande Biennial Premio of Cerveira at the 9 Biennal de Cerveira, Portugal.

Zadok Ben David moved to the United Kingdom in the 1970s and studied sculpture at St. Martin¡¯s School of art under the tutelage of Anthony Caro, William Tucker and Philip King. In the 1980s his work came to prominence as part of the New British Sculpture movement, which went against the minimal and conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s.

Latterly, Ben David has been active in the Asia Pacific region, marked by a solo show at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou, China. Completed series of outdoor sculptural wokrs include those at the ¡° Beyond Limits¡± show with Sotheby¡¯s at Chatsworth (UK), Yad Vashem(Israel), Singapore Botanic Gardens(Singapore) and Goodwood Sculpture Park, West Sussex (UK).

Zadok Ben-David
Black Field