guy yanai Miracle Sicily Bye oil linen israeli art

Cognitive Dissonance: Studio Visit with Guy Yanai

Guy Yanai‘s 2015 work highlights his creative evolution and newfound confidence as an artist. The Israeli born painter currently lives and works in Tel Aviv, and the colorful palate of his surroundings as well as the vibrant, live-life-in-the-moment energy of his city shines through in his pieces.

guy yanai studio israeli artist

His new body of work differs from that of prior collections in that it’s more “open source”: what you see is what you get. The paint appears almost pixelated because every brush stroke is visible to the viewer – making his process completely transparent.

This collection also, more clearly than ever, showcases an important theme for Yanai: one of cognitive dissonance. Yanai puts forth a paradox; work that represents both his cerebral state of hyper-consciousness and his subconscious emotional motives.

“Cognitive dissonance is really the irrationality of it all, isn’t it?  The space between those two edges. In that space anything can happen.”

Yanai adds, “I think great painting today has to hold up a few poles that are opposing simultaneously. This may not be evident to the viewer, but I think its conscious while making the work. Life is filled with these things: a tree and a stoplight, a cat and an iPhone.  Each painting is particular, it can never be the same; then it just becomes routine and mannered.”

Since graduating Parsons School of Design and the New York Studio School Yanai has exhibited in cities like Paris, Copenhagen, New York, Tel Aviv, Boston, Milan, and others. His upcoming solo exhibition at the Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery in NYC will open July 9 and run through August 2015.

Recent solo exhibitions include Diary, at Galerie Derouillon, Paris; First Battle Lived Accident, at Alon Segev Gallery, Tel-Aviv; Accident Nothing at Aran Cravey Gallery, Los Angeles; Battle Therapy Living Room at the Velan Center for Contemporary Art, Turin; and Lived & Laughed & Loved & Left at La Montagne Gallery, Boston.

Restrained Splash Nothing _ oil on linen x cm copy

guy yanai portrait

guy yanai Miracle Sicily Bye oil linen israeli art

guy yanai studio israeli artist photo EladSarig

guy yanai studio

guy yanai boat with no sailors

Guy yanai Studio Villa Lena photo ElaBialkowska

guy yanai sprinkler for grandfather oil linen israeli art

guy yanai last splash oil linen

guy yanai studio

guy yanai Yves on Polke israeli art

guy yanai israeli artist studio photo EladSarig

guy yanai claires knee ii

guy yanai claire climbing israeli art

For more information visit www.guyyanai.tumblr.com




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