Works on Paper

The current exhibition of the veteran Jerusalem painter Beba Yannay, has again unique human figures as its main focus. The paintings displayed are made in mixed media and in a “paper on paper” technique. It has been pasted layer upon layer, some on cardboard, some left in the original form, and some wrinkled and torn. At times as a kind of collage revealing its origin, and at times as a surface creating new textures in the course of work. The figures thus created are rich in both color and form, as well as in deeper meanings.
They mostly lack details or identifying features, moving between the explicitly stated and the implied, between generalization and individualization. Some of the figures are almost ascetic, as if silhouettes – always alone, even when they group together. The figures convey a quality of anonymity and allow for a generalization about man’s existential condition in the world. Yannay’s works are executed with strict discipline and restraint. At the same time they disclose sensitivity and an inner tension and turmoil and one may experience a sense of secrecy and mystery, which invites to look again.