Painting Lesson No. 5

Painting Lesson No. 5 is a three-dimensional “painting” that can be viewed from different vantage points, with the floor as its canvas. At the same time, it might be considered a dictionary or catalogue of the modernist languages of sculpture, from Russian Constructivism in the early 20th century to Minimalism in the 1960s. Nahum Tevet creates a distinctive sculptural and conceptual world. Unconventionally, he brings together abstract sculptural language and everyday readymade objects, combining pure art with the craftsmanship of carpenters and painters. He also brings together the ideal of pristine abstract art and the need to relate to the real world and to personal and collective memory. By fusing these forms and ideas, he makes a statement about our ability to perceive and depict the complexity of reality. Tevet, who as a young man studied under the influential Israeli painter Raffi Lavie, has produced an homage to the country’s founding fathers of abstract art. Several hallmarks of this school of painting are echoed in his sculpture, such as the geometric forms and the way in which the color is applied. These features can also be seen in the paintings displayed nearby.