After his vibrant 3-D sculptural metal installations were showcased at the India Art Fair earlier this year, Israeli artist David Gerstein has arrived in person to exhibit a body of new works for his first solo in India.
Titled 'Poetic Mirror', the show curated by Alka Pande is being brought to India by Bruno Art Group and is set to exhibited at the Visual Arts Galleryfrom May 6 till May 15.
Born in Jerusalem in 1944, Gerstein studied in Jerusalem, Paris, New York and London and started exhibiting his work in 1971. He uses a large spectrum of media such as wall sculptures, paper cuts, prints and photographs and other small objects. He is most famous for his large, outdoor installations, which are very much part of the Israeli landscapes.
Gerstein has already tasted success in the Indian market with many of his works being sold to Indian collectors post the India Art Fair. The artist considered the pioneer of 3-D metal art is however on his debut India visit.
"Unfortunately, I have never been to India before but for many years, I have been reading about it and hearing stories or seeing films that it seems I know what India is like. My passion for colours always makes people inquire whether India helped determine my love for strong fresh colours which is so typical to the Indian culture," he says.
"Some of my works involve a lot of details and are rich in colours which in recent years have disappeared from the art world trends", says Gerstein.
Yet, Gerstein admits he looks forward to watching the way "life is being performed on Indian streets, to smell the food and to see the wonderful craft that is being done everywhere."
"India and Israel share the same landscape and vegetation since the weather is closed but I am more interested in urban scenes than just landscape views," he says.
Motti Abramovitz of Bruno Art Group says,"We are proud to presents for the first time in India a comprehensive exhibition of works by David Gerstein, the founder of the 3D Metal Art. We believe he is an artist who has brought art from the walls towards the viewers."
Curator Pande says, "When we think of art, we think of emotion, of evoking a response and great art crosses boundaries of class, culture and geographies. Gerstein's work has a universal vibrancy and buoyancy to it. He takes painting and sculpture to a new level, in a way almost fusing the two."
"You could call his work, a wall based installation, a three dimensional painting or kinetic sculpture. And this is what I find exciting, that you cannot box him as a single medium artist," she says.
