Gil Shachar
Shachar´s sculptures made of epoxy resin depict human figures or simple everyday objects. The portrayals of humans are always fragments of the body - portrait busts, parts of the back, single hands that hold a cloth or an apple. Shachar creates a mimetic reflection of reality through complex cast techniques and thorough painting of the surface.
The artist makes an illusion with his almost bewilderingly realistic way of presentation. His portrayals seem so real, so present that one feels the urge to touch them. For a moment, they give us the semblance of reality which only on further inspection turns out to be a delusion.
Despite them being realistic, the portraits appear withdrawn of and dissociated from the recipient. The eyes of the figures, which are always closed due to the cast technique on the human model, contribute greatly to the over-all expression. The observer cannot look his or her counterpart in the eyes, causing the character of the figure to remain unknown. The busts create an odd mood that encompasses the silence, inwardness, denial and reticence.
Various art history references can be detected in Shachar´s works. The deceptively realistic depiction and the play with visual perception compare to the Trompe l´Oeil effect of Baroque painting. Seemingly rotten apples are reminiscent of still lives in the style of the old masters, a bust which consists of many alleged fruits is reminiscent of Arcimboldo´s paintings.
In his group of works of cloth, which are also made of synthetic resin, the artist includes elements of Op Art whose patterns play with optical illusions - as does the cloth itself as the image carrier.
Since 1996, he has been living and working in Germany.
born in Tel Aviv
studies at the Artists Teachers College, Ramat Hasharon, Israel
Ingeborg Bachmann Award, founded by Anselm Kiefer, Jerusalem
offer of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
offer of Beit-Berl College, Kfar Saba, Israel
lectureship at Bezalel Arts Academy, Jerusalem
lectureship at Beit-Berl College, Kfar Saba (Painting and Sculpture)
Wilhelm-Lehmbruck scholarship of the city of Duisburg
atelier scholarship of the city of Mönchengladbach
Barkenhoff scholarship, Worpswede
Schleswig Holsteinisches Künstlerhaus, Eckernförde
lectureship at Essen University, FB 4
Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf
Leube scholarship, Gartenau, Austria
seminar at Bergen Arts Academy, Norway
Pollock-Krasner-Foundation Grant
Jerusalem Artists House
Sculpture of the Present, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Julie M. gallery, Tel Aviv (in 1994 as well)
Israel´s contribution to the aperto of Venice Biennial, Artifact Galerie, Tel Aviv
In the House, in the Courtyard, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Seperate Worlds, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
gallery of the department for Fine Arts at Haifa University
Fragments, Janco-Dada Museum, Ein-Hod
Oranim Art Institute, Israel
The Artist`s Studio Gallery, Tel Aviv
Desert Cliché, Israel Now-Local Images, Arad Museum, Arad , Bass Museum, Miami
Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (with A. Lauer and A. Wesseling)
Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
Bamot, Israel 1948-1998, Jewish Museum, Vienna, Austria
Panel for Contemporary Art, Worpswede
Artfocus, Jerusalem
HEAVEN, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and Tate Gallery Liverpool
Bodies, Faces, Icons, Asian Fine Arts, Berlin
Transferatu, Bukarest
John Doe, Düsseldorf
Kinderblicke - Kindheit und Moderne von Klee bis Boltanski, Städtische Galerie, Bietigheim-Bissingen
8th triennial of small sculptures, Fellbach
Handmade, Herzliya Museum of Art, Israel
Wächserne Identitäten, Kolbe Museum, Berlin
The Land of Shadow, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
Ninos, CASA - Centro de Arte de Salamanca
Galerie Eboran, Salzburg
Love is in the Air, Time for Art, Tel Aviv
The Pupet Show, Time for Art, Tel Aviv
Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
Museum Goch
Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
Die obere Hälfte. Die Büste von Rodin bis Wang Du, Kunsthalle Emden, Museum Heilbronn, Museum Liner Appenzell
ORTung 05, Galerie 50 20, Salzburg
SURreal - Aspekte des Figuralen aus der Sammlung Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg
Jamboree, Museum Goch
Haifa Museum of Art, Fatamorgana: Illusion and Deception in Contemporary Art
"Was ist Plastik" 100 Jahre - 100 Köpfe - Das Jahrhundert moderner Skulptur
Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Center of International Sculpture, Duisburg
"Kopf oder Zahl" Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
"Verwachsene Geschichten", Museum Schwäbisch Gmünd Galerie im Prediger
"Territorial Bodies - contemporary sculpture from Israel", Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Netherlands
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
"An die Natur", Altana art collection, Bad Homburg
Körper Codes. Menschenbilder aus der Sammlung, Museum der Moderne Salzburg
"Das geheime Leben der Skulpturen", Museum Ratingen
"Natur und Abbild", Altana art collection Bad Homburg
Das geheime Leben der Skulpturen - Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Stadtmuseum Siegburg
Gil Shachar + The Shadows, Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
Alon Segev Gallery, Tel Aviv
Interlocal, Blue Container, Duisburg
Bild Macht Religion, Kunstmuseum Bochum
The Cast Whale Project, Salt River, Cape town
Schattenreich, Paul-Clemen-Museum, Bonn
Poetic Faith - From the Collection, S.M.A.K., Gent