Made in Heaven

On the one hand Tal R works with almost naïve and cartoon-like imagery and a palette restricted to just seven colours in these paintings. On the other hand the picture plane is divided into countless facets of glued-on paper and canvas, creating a physical depth in the paintings. The flat, monochrome shapes shift and dissolve in a kind of layered effect of overlaps and repetitions. Symbols such as the fish, sword, and phallus appear alongside words and fragments of text in the complex compositionsso that the easily read motivic elements become mixed with cryptic references in illogical combinations. The paintings seem to describe the very point where everyday stories and private experiences become a universal narrative about our time and culture – its starting point, its driving force, and its yearning.