Mishkan

Osnat Yaheli-Sarbagili’s new body of work spans interior views of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). She, doesn’t turn to the Knesset’s familiar spaces, such as the plenum or the Chagall hall, but rather to the public spaces of the building: which despite their divergence, display an ornate design language. The large formats paintings, turns the functional spaces into restrained minimalistic arenas,while the drama is refined from the cleanliness arising from them. The materiality typical of these spaces- marble floors, polished wood cladding and gilded banisters -is translated via painterly skill which empowering the radiant that they reflect. until the painted image appears like an improved of reality. Only these compositions, result of the elusive hyper-realistic touch are, in fact, based on series of digitally processed photographs which used as a starting point. The works are no longer a faithful representation of reality, but an ironic response to the official aesthetics associated with public buildings in general, and with the Knesset in particular.