Woman with Mirror, Man with Camera
The paintings on show, executed between 2016–2017, feature couples in erotic situations rendered through a language where symbolism, the esoteric and art history intermingle, an inexhaustible source to Ofir Dor for ideas and inspiration. The mostly nude couples are located in the domestic setting of a bedroom or hotel room, or yet in some fantasized Arcadian nature. Equipped with ocular props such as a camera or mirror, they engage in a sex play of gazes and self-display, which to the outside viewer – taking the position of a voyeur – seems naively awkward.
They indulge in their nudity, posing for themselves and their partner as they try out different positions and revel in their image as reflected or gazed upon through a window, peephole or camera. In their knowing game of appearances and the uninhibited thrill of the gaze, the male and female participants bring to mind a topic from art history, that of the artist and his model, which Dor tackles with a contemporary twist. The nude male and female figures seem trapped in a magnetic field of attraction, of conflicting powers of push and pull that, especially given the paintings’ uncertain spatiality and muddy surface, threaten to throw them out of balance.
Dor employs a multitude of layers as he explores his subject matter, aiming towards a free and intuited painterly flow to express his candid and playful themes. With the body as the focal point of his work, the sensuality of the line brings out the liveliness of the flesh and a nearly childish exhilaration, together with a certain inadequacy and embarrassment. The freeform expression, as evident in the paintings, sensitizes the viewer and alerts them to the deeply sensorial realm of the body, the personal and interpersonal.


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Ofir Dor