Eyeless In Gaza, 2010.
Oil, charcoal and household paint on canvas, 80 x 108 cm
My work is about people, people who need people. Still, some of the people depicted here are NOT used to being on the receiving end but, please— do not let this stop you. There is complete freedom, pleasure and absolute ease in every canvas. I guarantee you: these gaze-traps will take your mind off the troubles of everyday life. They will re-connect you with that rich and primal world of painting that we all love and know so well.
These paintings of so-called ‘people’, as you may have noticed by now, are actually paintings of heads. But what about these heads? Are they not throwing some light on the intelligence of other heads? so-called ‘real’ heads?— I don’t think so.
Not only that the people in these paintings all look like a fallout from an institutional repository of documents in south-east London – I have also organised them in such a way that they can be easily retrieved and consulted —if and when their time comes. However, like you, I know full well that although these people have heads, that doesn’t mean they have nothing between their ears, because to have that, one must also have shoulders.
Amir Chasson (b. 1968, Israel) studied at the Tel Aviv Centre for Design Studies (1994–1998), where he was awarded the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Award for Excellence in the Field of Visual Arts. He taught Typography and Design at Shenkar College in Israel (2003–2007) and completed an MA in Design at Middlesex University, London (2004–2007). While studying for an MFA at Goldsmiths, his work was twice selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2009 and 2010) and was shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2009. He lives and works in London.
