"Urtica" Iddo Markus
By Yair Shulevitz (February 27, 2014)
The new monotype works by Iddo Markus leave a strong sense of footprints, an echo of what was and now has left only its shadow.
The initial association of an old photograph or a classical drawing in the romantic tradition that emerges from the works may be misleading. Another glimpse reveals the inherent disorder in them, both in landscapes and in portraits. Out of beauty emerge the scratches and the wounds.
The classic motifs of landscapes and figures undergo a transformation: the images that emerge from the imagination are devoid of a clear definition, and function more as feelings and moods than distinct places and people. An introspective and melancholy mood prevails over the works, and the use of black and white only intensifying it.
Iddo Markus's works combine delicacy and refinement, which are familiar from his previous works. However, this time they reveal expressive and dark intensity, alongside freshness and curiosity.
* The translation is a summary of the written text in Hebrew