Guy Ben-Ari is a contemporary artist who was born in Israel, in 1984. Even though he is quite young, his artwork is considered as a high quality piece. His work has been shown in New York City at Thierry Goldberg Projects gallery, 6-8 Months Project Space, The Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and The Neiman Gallery.

Ben-Ari explains his paintings as “referential, figurative, narrative and illustrative.” His work deals with the complex relationship between psychoanalytic theories and the medium of painting, while questioning the larger relationship of philosophy to art. I really love his paintings because it can be analyzed differently depending on the person and I can connect to them in various ways.

(The Narcissistic Seat, oil and acrylic on canvas, 44″x55″, 2010)

This is my favorite painting of him. The title explains the painting clearly.  The person who sits in the chair become obsessed with the self, with mirrors surrounding him in every angle possible. However, it seems like in today’s society that everyone is already sitting in the chair. We are often too concerned about ourselves that we often can’t catch how others feel – or rather, we don’t want to. The girl in the painting looks like she wants to rescue the boy, with her one leg lifted up as if she wants to walk toward him at any moment. The shadow of the mirrors and the branches looks like a bunch of nails that is going to eventually torture the boy. But the shadow is also connected to the shadow of the girl – maybe it means that the narcissism affects the other people around you, making them become less concerned about the others as well.

(The Yoga Class, oil on canvas, 57″x76″, 2010)

This is another painting by Ben-Ari. The painting consists of one yoga teacher and students.  As the teacher is demonstrating, her waist has dissapeared. All students look at her with wide open mouth, thinking this can’t be done, and nobody dares to even follow her. It’s like performing a magic, or rather an impossible task. This reminds me of school, especially my calculus class. My calculus teacher does problems that I can’t understand at all. I can’t do anything but to listen to him and get lost in the middle of the class.

As you can see, Guy Ben-Ari comes up with creative and easy-to-look-at paintings with lucid illustration and color. I am so glad that I found such an artist who produces artworks that make me think and relate to my normal life!