Word: agam
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...largest painting in the world," Artist Yaacov Agam calls it. That may be something of an overstatement.* And Agam's work is certainly not in the same dimensional league (or medium) as Stone Mountain. But it no doubt seemed large enough to its creator. Involved, after all, were five months of 8-hour days with the aid of ten assistants, 592 sheets of aluminum base, each mounted at a 60° angle to the wall, 1,000 Ibs. of paint in 347 different colors and a whopping cost of $100,000. Whatever its physical qualifications, Agam's gargantuan...
Changing Reality. Some city fathers, in fact, have complained that the mural's visual movements are distracting for entertainers and lecturers. But Willi Kreiterling, director of the cultural center and instrumental in getting Agam the commission, insists that "Agam's murals no more distract than the elaborate decorations in a Baroque church." For his part, the 42-year-old Israeli artist pays tribute to the city's daring in accepting his first experiment with a "total environment," and he is proud that traditional ethnic bitterness was overcome. "The Germans were willing to meet my every technical exigency...
...Agam's art, in one sense, is intended to disturb. "This is a living wall," he insists. "Like reality, it is changing, disappearing, ever present. Its impact comes from its attempt to accept change." Looking at a wall from one angle, for example, the viewer sees an overall pattern of black and white; then from a different perspective it seems to explode in dozens of bright hues. Sometimes the scheme is a bold arrangement of pop colors. Turn around and it is all delicate pastels...
Cabalistic Wisdom. Agam was born Yaacov Gipstein in Rishon le Zion, when Israel was still Palestine. The son of a cabalistic rabbi, he never entered a school until the age of 13 and even now credits much of his thinking and visual vocabulary to cabalistic wisdom. Since Judaism forbids the creation of graven images, he searched for ways and means of producing a "living" art, one that while not depicting reality would yet approximate its changing character. After moving to Paris in 1951, he developed an interest in science and technology, which in turn led to his experiments with optical...
...Today, Agam is so besieged with major commissions that he says he had to give up his commitment to his New York gallery. Among projects in the works are a fire-and-water fountain for St. Louis, a Star of David created by laser beams and mirrors for an Illinois synagogue and a mural for the Tel Aviv museum. Meanwhile, Leverkusen on the Rhine, whose chief distinction until now has been its sprawling Bayer industries, has settled down to living with its "living wall...