Gideon Rubin: Red Ribbon

Images bleached by the passage of time — this is the emotional and visual impact of Gideon Rubin’s paintings. As though fading from memory, Rubin’s figures float in a pale, indistinct atmosphere, backs turned as though walking away, faces lacking identifiable features that could rescue the individual from the decay of memory and history.

Old toys, early 20th century photographs of dolls and children, World War II–era magazines, and bleached yellow newspapers are the sources of his paintings. Faded images which trap the markings of time, revived in broad, thick strokes of paint, are destroyed and revived again with repeated scraping and repainting. Only the essential remains: patterns on fabric, a red ribbon, a doll’s missing eyes.

Gideon Rubin was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and lives in London. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions in Tel Aviv, and in group exhibitions in England, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain and Germany. This is his first solo exhibition in the United States.