Dudu Gerstein
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David (Dudu) Gerstein ( he, דוד (דודו) גרשטיין) (born 14 November 1944) is an Israeli painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. He began as a figurative painter and was recipient of the
Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
Prize for illustration. At the end of the
1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...
he wished to expand the limits of two-dimensional painting, into painting in three-dimensions. He began cutting out the main subjects of each painting and to cancel the background, creating a unique and iconic cutout images, free standing in space, without the standard and traditional square frame. That led him to work in sculpture mostly in wood and using industrial paint as coating. Through the use of primary colors and subject matters from our day-to-day life, he created a variation of personal pop-art style, which he defined as second-generation pop-art. Following the path of
Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...
,
Tom Wesselmann Thomas K. Wesselmann (February 23, 1931 – December 17, 2004) was an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture. Early years Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati. From 1949 ...
, and
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
, Gerstein similarly aimed at creating his personal post-pop art style, and left behind the monochromatic palette of oil and watercolors and used instead vibrant, design-oriented colors. From 1980 to 1995 he created mostly free-standing wooden sculptures, which he later abandoned when he found laser-cutting technology. By that he pioneered the use of laser cutting in art, and was the first artist to use multi-layered cutout steel wall-sculptures. Simultaneously to his wall-sculptures Gerstein had a great interest in sculpture in public spaces, he created more than 40 sculptures in public squares and plazas in Israel alone. This led him to create many more large-scale outdoor sculptures in England, France, Sweden, Italy, China, South Korea, and other countries. His art was shown in museums around the world, beginning in
Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
in 1987. In 2016 he won
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
's Artistic Creation Award. His sculptures of bicycle riders were purchased by Lance Armstrong, and were mentioned in Stephen King's writings. His outdoor sculpture "Momentum" is Singapore's tallest public sculpture.


Early Years

David (Dudu) Gerstein was born in 1944 in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
to parents who
immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from Poland. Both he and his twin brother, Jonathan (Yoni) Gerstein, showed artistic talent from an early age. At the age of thirteen he was sent to a camp for the arts in Jerusalem, which he attended for several summers in a row. Later he took classes at the Beit Zvi Art Center in Ramat Gan. As a child he was moved by the works of the impressionists and earlier art movements in history. He frequented a gallery nearby his home and was always eager to find the new paintings on display there, "deeply emotionally moved" by the art there. In 1955, at age 11, David was introduced to modern art when he saw, in a newspaper, a reproduction of Picasso's ''Guernica.'' The reproduction ignited his interest in modern art movements such as cubism and expressionism. He continued to frequent museums and galleries as a teenager. During his
mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
he painted a series of oils of fishing docks, boats and
kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
landscape. Upon completion of his military service, David applied to the
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldes ...
, Jerusalem, where he met teacher
Avraham Ofek Avraham Ofek ( he, אברהם אופק; August 14, 1935 – January 13, 1990) was a multidisciplinary Israeli artist. Biography Avraham Ofek was born in Burgas, Bulgaria. Within two years of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, ...
, who had a marked influence on Gerstein's style.


Education

In 1965 Gerstein enrolled in Israel's leading art academy Bezalel at the graphic design department, as there was no art department at the time. After two years he realized that graphic design did not interest him. Having had a dream to visit Paris from an early age, he sailed to France and in 1966, enrolled at the
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...
in Paris,Yona Fisher, ''Balconies'', Domino Pub., 1984, p.3 where he studied under Chapelain-Midy fr">:fr:Roger_Chapelain-Midy.html" ;"title="nowiki/>
fr After the
1968 revolution in France two years in Paris, he moved to New York and attended classes of the Art Students League of New York">Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...
, where he learned portrait painting under William Franklin Draper (artist)">William F. Draper William Franklin Draper (April 9, 1842 – January 28, 1910) was an American businessman, industrialist, and soldier who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Biography Draper was born i ...
, and oil painting under Jacob Lawrence. Gerstein returned to Israel at the age of twenty six and began teaching at Bezalel. At first, he taught drawing and then became a faculty member of the Department of Jewelry Design, which was then undergoing a process of renewal; evolving from the outmoded, tradition style of "Bezalel" to introducing innovative concepts influenced by modern art. Due to his background in the fine arts, Gerstein was responsible for closing the gap between jewelry design and the world of modern art. He introduced his students to contemporary movements, such as
Danish design Danish design is a style of functionalistic design and architecture that was developed in mid-20th century. Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity ...
,
expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
,
conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
,
minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
, and other contemporary movements.Naomi Aviv, ''David Gerstein Sculptures'', Catalogue, Rosenfeld Gallery, pub., 1997 He wanted jewelry design to be considered in the same light as contemporary art, no less inferior for being decorative, equal to other forms of art. Years later, Gerstein remarked that his involvement in teaching in the department influenced his transition from painting to sculpture. Being interested in printmaking, and wishing to exapnd in the artform, Gerstein enrolled in
Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of t ...
in London, where he focused on printmaking and earned his Masters of Art. Having learned lithograph and
silkscreen printing Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...
, he sought to combine the two media, which had not as yet been integrated. Upon completing his studies he was awarded first prize and two awards for excellence in an end of year competition at St. Martin's. Gerstein returned to Bezalel and applied printmaking into enamel technique. Already then, his tendency to integrate different mediums and advanced technologies in creating art was discernable; a tendency that was reflected more strongly in his use of laser in the 1990s. He continued in his position as senior lecturer at Bezalel until 1985.


First Exhibitions

Gerstein's first exhibition in Israel was held in 1971 at the Engel Gallery in Jerusalem, comprising figurative drawings and watercolors. Thereafter, he exhibited at Jerusalem's Artist's House in 1972 with large oil paintings dealing with interiors and the seaside, work that received enthusiastic reviews. Among others, Gerstein was compared to
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
due to the fact that "like Hockney, he, too, had been first and foremost a master drawer with an excellent color sense".Meir Ronen, ''The Jerusalem Post'', March 13, 1978 During those years, Gerstein led a struggle to legitimize figurative art, unacceptable in the mainly
conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...
Israeli art scene.See for example: David Gerstein, Long Live Pluralism", ''Yediot Achronot'', March 2, 1978 The conceptual art trend was irrelevant for him and he chose the less accepted orientation at the time, figurative painting. Gerstein numbered among the few artists, such as
Avraham Ofek Avraham Ofek ( he, אברהם אופק; August 14, 1935 – January 13, 1990) was a multidisciplinary Israeli artist. Biography Avraham Ofek was born in Burgas, Bulgaria. Within two years of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, ...
,
Uri Lifschitz Uri Lifschitz ( he, אורי ליפשיץ; 1936 – 28 May 2011) was an Israeli painter.
, and others, who focused on narrative-figurative painting. At the same period, parallel to conceptualism, an opposite trend developed: hyper-realism. Gerstein, however, aspired to creating figurative paintings informed by a personal and free style, striving to find his ''personal handwriting''. Gerstein sought to make statements about the world and life, using the narrative and experiences of his personal life. Gerstein painted memories from his past such as his mother riding a bicycle, or a painting depicting the childhood of twins, referencing the childhood of his twin brother and him, childhood vacations at the Dead Sea, etc. Among his main inspirations was the work of
Hanoch Levin Hanoch Levin ( he, חנוך לוין; December 18, 1943 – August 18, 1999) was an Israeli dramatist, theater director, author and poet, best known for his plays. His absurdist style is often compared to the work of Harold Pinter and Samuel Bec ...
who presented life's vanities in a vein of comic irony. Gerstein aspired to do the same in painting: "I tried to express in painting what Levin wrote: relationships between men and women, within families…a sort of grotesque style of painting". Another inspiration at the time was the painter George Gross, to whom he felt an affinity and who also dealt with what Gerstein termed "the human comedy". In addition, he was influenced by
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
,
Fernando Botero Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political ...
and
José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...
, who all dealt with the human experience and people' interactions.


Figurative painting

In the 1970s, Gerstein explored the integration of personal themes alongside figurative painting, particularly in his watercolors and gouache on paper. His works stemmed not from the political realm, nature or science, but rather from early personal memories of family and growing up. At first, these works were intended as sketches for large canvas oil paintings. With time, though, he found interest in working in watercolors on paper only, and they became his main medium. Gerstein created a series of paintings concerning his childhood based on photographs and memories. Another series dealt with the memory of freedom: his mother riding a bicycle in the streets, a motif that developed into a series of bicycle riders in the 1990s and afterward. Another series of paintings focused on interior settings of personal living spaces such as living rooms, in French tradition. A repetitive motif in these works was that a cat, as well as a vase, which, for the artist, expressed, "the serenity of daily home life." While wishing to express the interior, intimate life of individuals and families, Gerstein was also interested in the public realm, and, more specifically, in the ''tension'' between the private and public. It was then that he was attracted to the theme of balconies, as they successfully captured that tension; on the one hand they were extensions of the personal home, and, on the other hand, they were like and exhibition displayed to the public in the street below. These were works stemming from nostalgia and longing to his childhood memories of Tel Aviv balconies with peeling plaster, and the day to day modest life of working-class middle-aged couples, as he recalled from his parents' friends. Both the cat and the flower vase continued to accompany his work decades later. While involved with these motifs Gerstein wanted "to escape the Israeli political reality to an Olympian turbulent-free, tranquility". In the mid-'70s, he made a series of paintings of people at the beach, influenced both by the artist's childhood memories as well as from observation. Another series of paintings included the landscape of the
Ein Kerem ar, عين كارم , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = Ein Karem IMG 0624.JPG , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Ein Karem , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_ ...
neighborhood, where the artist lived at the time, used as a backdrop for compositions abundant with interacting figures in groups and couples. Gerstein's aim to portray the daily experience of Israeli life came to fruition in the 1980s. Gerstein figuratively describes chapters from the Israeli experience, derived, among others, from childhood memories in Tel Aviv. The first series depicts Tel Aviv with its
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...
-style balconies, with a humoristic irony.Avraham Eilat, ''Sea, Mud and Salt'', National Maritime Museum, Haifa, pub., 2010 This series was based on Gerstein's memories of his parents' generation of "little Tel Aviv"; people whom he regarded with wonder and humor. These paintings express the tension between the sabra generation of the children and the relatively "exilic" generation of the parents. The series contain elderly people, the "old world" reflected in their faces, as seen from the eyes of a sabra child looking at the "generation of the desert"; the generation that founded the country, having had immigrated at a young age, yet still marked by the heritage of "diaspora". The origins of this series can be found in Gerstein's watercolors and gouache on paper from the '70s, parts of which were adapted to canvas oil paintings. In the '80s, Gerstein developed this into another series of paintings, those of bathers in the Dead Sea, about which Avraham Eilat wrote,"the residents of the balconies have gone down to the Dead Sea where they lie about on the shore, covered in mud, exposing their pinkish bodies to the mercy of the sun's rays and the salt and get slowly fried".


Early Sculpture

Despite the positive response his paintings evoked, both from the critics and the art world, Gerstein felt the need to renew, find new directions and expand his artistic boundaries. During 1980–1987, while continuing to paint, Gerstein experimented with wood sculptures, which were "three-dimensional while preserving a two-dimensional quality". Gerstein sought to "expand the borders of painting" to the domain of the third-dimension. Dissatisfied with his few sculpting experiments, the artist discovered that he could cut and assemble the elements into a type of sculpture in space. The idea came to him during reserve duty while dismantling cardboard boxes containing cartridges. He painted on the inner partition of a box and then reassembled it. From this evolved the idea of painting on large-scale cardboard constructed into sculpture. Following a number of sculptures from cardboard, Gerstein used wood and thin aluminum. Gerstein defines those years as a "struggle" between painting and sculpture, comparing his relationship to painting as that to a wife, as opposed to his relationship to sculpture: a seductive lover. Gerstein first showed these sculptures at the ''Horace Richter'' in Tel Aviv in 1981. This was a bold step for the 36-year-old painter who had not been known for sculpture previously. The works were of aluminum and wood, and the subject matter was a continuation of that of the 1970s: his mother riding a bicycle, cats, flower vases and various still life elements. In the following years, Gerstein showed at two main galleries, ''Sara Gilat'' and ''Ruth Debel'', with work reflecting the artist's continued "search" for a new language integrating painting and three-dimensionality. In 1984 Gerstein traveled to New York, the first time since the conclusion of his studies there fifteen years earlier, and began working with the art dealer Marilyn Goldberg, who ordered the production of six limited edition aluminum prints titled "Art Cats". The series included cutouts of cats inspired by those of twelve known artists, from van Gogh to Picasso and Lichtenstein. In the wake of these works, Gerstein was invited to show at the
Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
in Jerusalem. The exhibit in 1987 was presented under the heading, "From Dudu to 3-D", comprising sculptures that were "colorful, cheerful, amusing and reminiscent of toys or paper cutouts".Dana Gilerman, "True to the Original", ''Ha'aretz'', Nov. 14, 2008 The exhibit was a summary of Gerstein's three-dimensional work of the previous seven years and was a breakthrough for the artist. Most of the exhibited work was purchased by international collectors and Gerstein was subsequently invited to exhibit in the United States and Canada.


Stylistic development

While continuing to develop his sculpture in the '90s, Gerstein returned to painting in the style that constituted a direct link to the balconies and the Dead Sea series, depicted in the '70s and '80s. The series of automobiles created during this period presents people traveling in a car from the perspective of the spectator "peeping" in at the passengers through the front windshield. Similar to the motif of peeping into Tel Aviv balconies, here too, Gerstein chose the perspective of the outsider looking at the driver through the windshield, while at the same time reflecting the surroundings in the reflections on the windshield. The series was created in Paris during Gerstein's residency at the ''
Cité Internationale des Arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...
'', 1990–1991. In 1995, after years of working with wood, Gerstein discovered the technology of laser cutting and began cutting metals and painting them in glossy paint taken from the car industry. On this he collaborated with Rosenfeld Gallery in Tel Aviv. At first, he began working with one layer cutout steel. Due to the fact that the metal required industrial paint, mostly based on primary colors, Gerstein was attracted to bright primary colors. Shortly after beginning to work with one layer laser cutout, he began experimenting with adding one additional metal cutout layer. Using screws, he secured the second layer to the first, and was immediately "taken" by the technique: "From early on I tried to create three dimensional paintings, which is what led me to wood sculptures in the early 1980s. Suddenly, fifteen years later, I finally found the perfect way to create a three dimensional painting, floating above the wall, breathing, living. It was, for me, an eureka moment. I knew from that moment on that I'd like to further develop this medium." Soon after, Gerstein began creating these multi-layered cutout wall sculptures in limited editions. These limited editions were nonetheless hand painted, and by that were each uniquely original.


Outdoor Sculptures

Gerstein is known for his outdoor sculpture, many of them are installed in city squares or next to public buildings. His sculptures can be found throughout Israel: ten sculptures in Netanya, twelve sculptures in Herzliya, large scale sculptures in the campus of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
and the
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
,
Avdat Avdat ( he, עבדת, ar, عبدة, ''Abdah''), also known as Abdah and Ovdat and Obodat, is a site of a ruined Nabataean city in the Negev desert in southern Israel. It was the most important city on the Incense Route after Petra, between the 1 ...
, the Yoav Dagon Sculpture Garden in
Ramat Hasharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon t ...
, Memorial sculpture in Yahud and a memorial sculpture in Beit Hashanti in
Mitzpe Ramon Mitzpe Ramon ( he, מִצְפֵּה רָמוֹן, Ramon Lookout; ar, متسبي رمون) is a local council in the Negev desert of southern Israel. It is situated on the northern ridge at an elevation of 860 meters (2,800 feet) overl ...
, Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University in
Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
, Raanana, Ramat Alon in Haifa, Holon, Kiryat Yam, Ramat Gan, Ashkelon, Mevaseret, Modi'in, and others. Outside of Israel, Gerstein is known for his large scale colorful sculptures, including ''Roman Warrior'' is in Bromford, London. In Singapore's
Raffles Place Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the River, mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone o ...
. The athletic stadium and shopping mall in
Hsinchu Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, Museum of Contemporary Art in
Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of hist ...
, Taiwan; eleven sculptures in the Science Park in
Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
, Taiwan, six outdoor sculptures in the Morgan Stanley building in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, Korea; Star City in Seoul. Five sculptures in a park in
Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
, China; sculptures in a hospital of Taikang, Beijing, China; and "Tea for Two" in Fuliang Province, China. His sculpture in the Singapore business district is 18.5 meters high and is considered the tallest sculpture in Singapore.


Artistic Concepts

From the 1970s, Gerstein aspired to create art that spoke to the art world while remaining accessible to the layman in the street. His bold use of color came from a desire to "copy nature." His bold use of colors in sculptures came out of his own philosophy. Gerstein explained that just like the brightly colored fruit or flower in nature attracts insects, so, too, his work was intended to be attractive to the observer; and as the fruit is not solely an object of attraction, but is also a source of vitamins, so, too, his works contain added value. "I expressly deal with images of consumerism and the lure of the color is strategic." His work "Shoe Mania", portraying a woman whose hair is composed of shoes is colorful but expresses criticism of Western consumerism. Gerstein maintains "there can be art for pleasure's sake in which its deeper message is hidden." Another guiding principle in Gerstein's work is leaving the boundaries of the gallery: "I want to break the unnatural division between the museum and the street." Gerstein's use of vibrant, bright colors has been called "decorative" and "commercial." Gerstein says: "The forms and colors in my work are my way of communicating. Those who taste the fruit will discover that it is not only beautiful, but also replete with vitamins. My work ''The Human Circle'' resembles a huge flower or bouquet, but beneath the surface is a tacit criticism of human life; the insight that we come from nowhere, are going nowhere, and in the meantime, are going around in circles, chasing our tails. Whoever chooses to see the work as a decorative bouquet, is welcome. But if you look at the characters comprising the ''Human Circle'', you will see that they are not pretty. In fact, they are even ugly. But the overall picture is beautiful and seductive".


Selected solo exhibitions

*1971 Engel Gallery, Jerusalem. *1972 The Artists' House, Jerusalem. *1980 Horace Richter Gallery, Tel Aviv. *1982 Horace Richter Gallery, Tel Aviv. *1984 Radius Gallery, Tel Aviv (a member of Radius Group). *1987
Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
, Jerusalem ("From Dudu to 3-D") Albert White Gallery, Toronto. *1988 Haifa Museum of Contemporary Art ("Frames"). *1989 Herzliya Museum ("Totems") - Albert White Gallery, Toronto - "Art 20" International Art Fair, Basel. *1992 Yavneh Art Workshop ("Pupils") - "Art Frankfurt" International Art Fair. *1993 Ashdod Museum ("Extended Pupils"). *1994 Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv ("Cutouts"). *1995 "Art Multiple", Düsseldorf Conzen Gallery, Düsseldorf. *1997 "Encircled People", Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv - Conzen Gallery, Düsseldorf *1999 Newbury Fine Art Gallery, Boston - Stricoff Gallery, New York - Aduko France Fine Art, Lyon - Art Symbol, Paris - Art Seiler, St Paul de Vence. *2001 Galleria Silecchia, Sarasota, New York - Newbury Fine Art, Boston. *2001 "Tango Sur Seine", paintings, Artists House, Jerusalem. *2001 "Pixul", Art Gallery at The Memorial Center, Kiryat Tivon. *2001 "The Private Sector", Meirov Municipal Art Gallery, Holon. *2002 Osklen Multimedia Space, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. *2002 Peter's Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus. *2002 "No Favorite Color", Street Installation during Documenta, Kassel, Germany. *2003 Nord L/B Gallery, Hannover, Germany. *2003 Clube A Hebrica, Sao-Paulo, Brazil *2004 Galerie Am-Dom, Wetzlar, Germany *2004 "In constant movement" Municipal Gallery, Ness-Tsiona, Israel *2004 Galeria Kreisler, Madrid, Spain *2006 Due-Diligence, Städtische Galerie im Park, Viersen, Germany *2007 Gana art gallery, Seoul, Korea *2007 Gallery Ermanno Tedeschi, Milan, Italy *2007 Catto Gallery, England *2008 Gana art gallery, Seoul, Korea *2008 Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Rome, Italy *2008 Mairie de Hesperange - Luxembourg *2008 Gana Gallery, Busan - Korea *2009 Momentum Art Gallery, Knokke, Belgium *2010 "Sea, Mud & Salt", Drawings exhibition, The National Maritime Museum, Haifa, Israel *2010 Celebrating Forms And Colors, Gallery Ostendorff, Münster Germany *2010 Mathematician Museum, Gissen, Germany *2010 National Museum, Brasilia, Brazil *2010 Guang Xiang, Taipei, Taiwan *2012 Guzzini Center, Milan, Italy *2013 Belle Art Gallery, Denmark *2013 "Synergy" National Tsing Hua University Arts Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan *2013 Gana Art Gallery, Seoul, S. Korea *2013 Guzzini Center, Milano, Italy *2013 Ermano Tedeschi, Rome, Italy *2014 Galeria de Arte Salduba, Saragoza, Spain *2014 HTC Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan *2014 Gallery Momentum at Bocholtz, Liege, Belgium *2014 The Visual Arts Center Gallery, New Delhi, India *2014 "Poetic Mirror", ARTN SPACE, Shanghai, China *2014 Catto Gallery, London, England *2014 Biac Art, Beijing, China *2014 Ostendorf Gallery, Munster, Germany *2014 Gallery of Natural Tsing Hua University, Taiwan *2014 Salduba, Zaragoza, Spain *2015 "Made In Germany", Work of collaboration - Gerstein / Otmar Alt Foundation, Bochum, Germany *2015 Galerie Dárt Perbet, Annecy, France *2015 Galerie Montmartre, Paris, France *2015 Miva Gallery, Stockholm *2016 Shenzhen Mix C, China *2016 Gana Gallery, Busan, S. Korea *2016 Galeria D`Art Mar, Barcelona *2017 "Layers" - Today Art Museum, Beijing, China *2017 Kellerman Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany *2017 Kpopulous Gallery, Mykonos, Greece *2018 Froots Gallery at 978 Beijing, China *2018
"XYZ"
Galerie Duret, Paris, Brussels, France *2019 "SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL" - Froots Gallery, Shanghai, China *2019 "BACK & FORTH" - Miva Gallery, Gothenburg / Malmö, Sweden *2019 Belle Gallery, Denmark *2020
"Art in Motion"
Galerie Duret, Paris & Brussels, France & Belgium *2020 "U-Turn", Artists' House, Tel Aviv *2021
"Urban Dream"
Galerie Duret, Brussels & Paris, Belgium & France


Selected art in public spaces

*1985 "Bicycle Rider", Hebrew University, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem. *1988 Sculptural children's playground, Weiller Park, Jerusalem. *1989 "The White Rider", City of Lod. *1992 "Kiosk", Israel Museum, Jerusalem *1992 Six sculptures at Avdat archeological site, the Negev. *1993 "Great Tree", billboard project in Ramat Hasharon *1994 "Ladder of Motives", Open Museum, Tefen. *1995 Two wall pieces for Bank Leumi, Tel Aviv - "The Flower Vase", Bank Leumi, Rehovot *1995 "Jacob's Ladder", Israel Festival, Jerusalem. *1995 Tree of Donors, The Science Museum, Jerusalem. *1996 "Scientific Orange", Rehovot shopping & central bus station & City Hall *1996 "Head Within a Head", the Hebrew University, Jerusalem *1996 "Island of Flowers", Brigada Street, Herzliya. *1997 "Above the Head", Installation, Hebrew University Givat Ram, Jerusalem *1997 "Pupils", Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv. *1998 "Cow", Raanana Park, Raanana. *1998 "Roman Warrior", Bromford, London *1998 "Cats Hill", Neve Amal, Herzliya. *1999 "A Whole World", Hebrew University, Jerusalem *1999 Homage to Nathan Alterman, Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv. *2000 "Audience", Jerusalem Theater, Jerusalem. *2000 Seven large-scale wall sculptures, Azrieli shopping mall, Tel Aviv. *2001 "Day and Night", Azrieli Center, Tel Aviv. *2001 "Colors from Nature", Horev Center, Haifa. *2001 "Things that come from the Heart", Ramat Alon Park, Haifa. *2002 "Soul Bird", Holon. *2002 "Digital Sabra", Waddi Nisnass, Haifa. *2002 "No Favorite Color", Kassel, Germany. *2002 "Shalom On Israel", Rabin Building, Judaism Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. *2003 "Blue Mermaid", Kiryat Yam, Haifa. *2003 "Rush Hour", Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel *2004 "Journey into the Body" wall installation as well as seven floors with wall sculptures at the Shaha building, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel *2004 Sculptures to the "Rabin Medical Center", Israel *2005 "Sun Rise" High School, Ashkelon, Israel *2005 "Butterflies", Mevaseret, Israel *2007 "Ohel Moed", Sculpture Park, kibbutz Hatzerim, negev, Israel *2008 "Momentum" CBD, Singapore *2008 "Star City", Seoul, Korea *2008 Six sculptures ("Sport Island"), Netanya, Israel *2011 Hyundai Department Store, Seoul, Korea *2014 Taikang Residence of Elderly People, Beijing, China *2014 Three Free Standing Sculptures for Athletic Stadium, Hsinchu, Taiwan *2014 Eleven sculptures in the Science Park in
Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
, Taiwan *2015 "Presence-Present", Gerstein / Alana Ruben, Jerusalem Biannale of Contemporary Jewish Art *2016 "Windows" - four sculptures in Modiin, Israel *2017 Five sculptures in National Park, Guizhou, China *2017 "Journey Through My Gardens", Taikang's Residence, Beijing, China *2020 Glass Windows, Exterior walls of Taikang Art Museum, Suzhou Park, Suzhou, China *2020 "Boats" Suzhou Park, Suzhou, China *2021 Donors Tree, Soroka Hospital, Gdolim MeHahaim building, Be'er Sheva, Israel *2021 "Tornado", Hsinchu, Taiwan *2021 Six outdoor sculptures in the Morgan Stanley building in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, Korea *2021 "Tea for Two" in Fuliang Province, China.


Books About Gerstein

* David Gerstein "Past and Present" (2012) Skira * Balconies, David Gerstein (1984) Domino Publishing House, Israel * David Gerstein, "Works" (2010) * Gerstein Sculptures (2008), Adar Publications, Israel * David Gerstein Paints The Passover Haggadah, Rabin Medical Center Publishing, 2015


See also

*
Visual arts in Israel Visual arts in Israel refers to plastic art created first in the region of Palestine, from the later part of the 19th century until 1948 and subsequently in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories by Israeli artists. Visual art in Israel ...


References


External links

*
GersteinART

David Gerstein in France

David Gerstein in Belgium



David Gerstein in Miami, FL USA

Gerstein in South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerstein, David 1944 births Israeli artists Jewish artists Israeli twins Living people Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art