24 Jul 2012

Zohar Fraiman & Sahar Zukerman at Galerie Queen Anne, Leipzig

Zohar Fraiman & Sahar Zukerman

Germany, Leipzig, July 2012: Double exhibition of Zohar Fraiman and Sahar Zukerman - Gallery Queen Anne presents new works of the Israeli artists.

From 20th July till 8th September, Gallery Queen Anne in Leipzig presents a double exhibition of the Berlin based artists Zohar Fraiman and Sahar Zukerman at the area of the former cotton mill – 'Spinnerei' – Leipzig. The Exhibition 'Zohar Fraiman & Sahar Zukerman' contrasts the artistic examination of modern male and female role models in society.

In her works, Zohar Fraiman examines female role models in the Jewish community affected by religion, family and society. She often displays women in domestic scenes within religious and social rituals. In her paintings, Fraiman emphasizes the transmission of Jewish rituals from generation to generation. In a subtle way Zohar Fraiman combines threat and violence on the one hand with tenderness and intimacy on the other. She reveals the breaking of taboos – like female masturbation or rebellion against oppression, never provoking, rather cautious and modest. 'In the end, it is the vulnerability of the protagonists that is the central theme and the link between all of Zohar Fraiman's works, Carolin Modes, one of the two gallery owners, indicates.

Zohar Fraiman was born in Jerusalem in 1987 and studied the 'Master's class' of fine arts at the Jerusalem Studio School from 2005 till 2009. Coined by the education at a school totally obliged to the tradition of figurative painting, in Zohar Fraimans works technical expertise is combined with a well founded reflection on the history of art. The examination of religious content, the fine shade of colors, the warm light and the figurative portrayal of men remind us of the early renaissance or the Italian Quattrocento. Today, Zohar Fraiman studies at the UdK Berlin, class of Burkhardt Held.

In contrast, in his paintings Sahar Zukerman equally deconstructs masculinity and heroism. In his present series, holy George is symbol of this examination. He transmits the legend of the dragon slayer into the present by portraying the hero St. George as an anonymous and faceless security supervisor. But in his paintings not much space is left for heroic poses, as Wilhelm Werthern in LE MONDE diplomatique (Nr. 9799, 11.05.2012) comments. His heroes rather seem to be resigned and defeated. The mostly hidden dragon represents the fear of an unknown enemy whose superiority generates through its incomprehensibility and its invisibility. But Sahar Zukerman does not want to be simply regarded as a political critic. More important to him is to combine different themes and techniques. Therefore, he connects the composition and the expression of classical painting with the aesthetics of a contemporary war or conflict journalism.

Born 1985 in London, England, Sahar Zukerman also grew up in Israel and studied at the Jerusalem Studio School from 2001 till 2008. From 2009 till 2012 he studied at the Universität der Künste Berlin, College of Fine Arts, in the class of Leiko Ikemura. There he completed successfully the Meisterschüler class this week. The spectrum of his techniques includes classical and digital painting, but is strongly attached to figurative tradition.

For further information please contact us: info@queen-anne.de

Zohar Fraiman
1987: born in Jerusalem, Israel
2003: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
2005 – 2009: Jerusalem Studio School (fine arts), Master's class
2006: International School of Painting and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy
2008: Villa di Pieve Umbria, Italy
since 2011: Universität der Künste Berlin (Studium der bildenden Künste) with Klasse Burkhartd Held

Sahar Zukerman
1985: born in London, UK
1987: migration with the family to Israel
2006 – 2008: Jerusalem Studio School with Israel Hershberg and Eldar Farber
2008: Goliath project NY
since 2009: lives and works in Berlin, Germany
2009 – 2012: Universität der Künste Berlin (Studium der bildenden Künste) with Klasse Leiko Ikemura
2011: Schulz-Stübner Prize for painting
since 2012: Meisterschüler with Klasse Leiko Ikemura