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Irena Aizen
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Biography
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Irena Aizen was born in Russia.
Grown up in a family of artists, she is the third generation of artists in her family.
In 1981, Irena graduated in arts from Yaroslavl Art college.
In Russia, she worked as an illustrator in a book publishing house.
Since 1990, she has lived in Israel.
Her artworks are exhibited in the Museum of Russian Art (Jersey City, USA),
the Naive Art Museum of Latvia (Riga),
the Tula Museum of Fine Arts (Russia),
Galerie Natalie Boldyreff (Paris, France),
Tribes Fine Art Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel),
Egozi Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel)
and may be found as part of private collections in the USA, Australia, Germany, Russia, Israel, Great Britain, China, etc.
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Statement
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Irena says:
"For me, as an artist working in a realistic style, the depiction of a person is related to the specifics of his or her gender, age, and the time and location of the character in the painting. These conditions, however, stood in the way of my desire to depict a person's psyche, or psychological state, through the use of symbolic imagery meant to affect the viewer on a subconscious level.
The contradiction between the desire for realism, on the one hand, and the conveyance of universal psychological traits inherent in a person throughout the entirety of his development, on the other, made me search for a character that allows me to bypass the limitations associated with realism, without breaking away from the style itself. Ancient Egyptian images of half-man - half-animal inspired me to look for the image I needed in that direction. While researching the role of animals in human culture, I discovered that the hare often appears as a character in the fairy tales and myths of many different cultures and people, spanning from America to the Far East, as well as from Africa to Europe. In mythology, the hare is connected to the moon, the sky, and the sun. Its image can be found on ancient ceramics, coins, hieroglyphs, and in folk epics. What appealed to me the most, was that in these fairy tales and myths the hare often embodies both the masculine and the feminine, while also personifying all the qualities and flaws of human nature.
I like to call my paintings "Philosophical Fairy-Tales for Adults".
I use animal imagery to describe people and, naturally, the relationship between men and women.
After all, we've all got a bit of the animal in us.
My "Pyramid" series is an expression of a philosophical and spiritual concept that reflects the balance of opposing forces in a person's life. Every element in each painting is both a symbol and a hint. For example, a bird symbolizes spirituality, while a key is an answer to a question.
My paintings emphasize the human desire for harmonious development. All elements of the painting are interconnected by the author's overall concept. However, each viewer can find his or her own version of how these elements relate to one another".
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Exhibitions
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Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2021 - Lewinsky College of Education, - Tel Aviv, Israel.
2018 - Estonian Children's Literature Centre (Tallinn, Estonia)
2016 - Danielle Peleg Gallery (USA)
2015 - Egozi Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel)
2013, 2010, 2009 - Ein Hod Artists Village (Israel)
2011 - Naive Art Museum of Latvia (Riga)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2019 - Freshpaint 11 (Tel Aviv, Israel)
2017 - Freshpaint 9 (Tel Aviv, Israel)
2016 - Beffroi-de-Bruges (Bruges, Belgium)
2015 - Art About - Israeli Worldwide Exhibition (Frankfurt, Germany)
2014 - Art About - Israeli Worldwide Exhibition (Munich, Germany)
2017 - 2008 Imagination Israeli Art (Tel Aviv, Israel)
2012 - Museum of Russian Art (Jersey City, NJ USA)
2010 - Salon d'art Contemporain Business Art, l'Espace Pierre Cardin (Paris, France)
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Tobias and the Angel
Secret. Prints on Premium Canvas.
