Yigal Ozeri

Yigal Ozeri lives and works in New York, where his female-oriented oeuvre has created quite a sensation. Ozeri’s unique, refined technique brings his models to life in all their beauty and vulnerability. His work, depicting his ‘anima’, the female archetype, conveys a positive message of hope, freedom and love of life: woman as the source of life, fertility and Eros. His continued interest lies in capturing the spirit of his subjects, be they ageless sirens, pre-Raphaelite women of folklore, or youthful figures in contemporary garb. Through his heartfelt quest to capture his muses’ energy, he creates work that transcends materiality, combining meticulously-rendered details with spontaneous and loose brushstrokes. Wispy flyaway hairs, minute droplets of water, glimmering reflections of light, and crisp folds of wrinkled clothing stand out against hazy backgrounds and blurred terrain.

Ozeri’s paintings in his most recent series “A New York Story” and “Americana” represent a significant evolution in the artist’s practice—one of the most dramatic shifts in his approach to painting thus far. He has moved beyond his comfort zone of photographing and painting models in prodigious natural landscapes to painting documentary photography in the chaotic pulse of New York’s urban terrain. A New Yorker himself, Ozeri has developed an eye for the unconventional moments of beauty that city dwellers have long embraced.

His  “A New York Story” series features the iconic and unyielding aspects of New York—the meat markets of Chinatown, the unmaintained subway, the vacant lots of Redhook—as well as the more traditional beloved locales. It is in these offbeat settings that Ozeri’s work captures a 21st century sensibility.

For "Americana", Ozeri has chosen to focus on ‘the diner’ as an American icon; an institution that has its image engraved into the fabric of American life. Ozeri aesthetically captures the most appealing retro- elements from the furniture to the lighting. The chrome accessories reflect pops of neon and bold lines of vibrant colors. Vintage antique memorabilia make their way into the compositions adding a charming nostalgia of yesteryear. 

Collections:

Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, New York, NY Da-Da Yanko Museum, Ein Harod, Israel Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, New York, NY Ein Harod Museum, Ein Harod, Israel Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles, CA General American Corporation, Houston, TX Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel Kuntzwerien, Wiesbaden, Germany McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel New York City Public Library, New York, NY Parrish Art Museum, Watermill, NY Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York, NY Tampa Museum of Art, Florida, USA Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel The Jewish Museum, New York, NY The Jewish Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria The Krupp Family Foundation, Boston, MA The National Museum, Krakow, Poland The Richard Massey Foundation, New York, NY The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Collection, New Orleans, LA The Wayne Yakes Collection, Denver, CO Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY