Sensual Season – Yosi Messiah
Prolific Sydney artist Yosi Messiah will exhibit his latest work at a solo show titled, Sensual Season, at Art2Muse Gallery in Sydney’s Double Bay from 19 August through 1 September 2014.
Fire Girl – Yosi Messiah
The exhibition will be opened by Australian artist, Lionel Bawden, recipient of the 2009 Wynne Prize, through the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia.
Sensual Season represents a change in artistic direction for Yosi, who brings his new body of contemporary, figurative work to life with strong colors and themes in these vibrant paintings of girls posing seductively, with large eyes and porcelain faces.
Restless Desire – Yosi Messiah
Born in Israel, Yosi migrated to Australia in 1987 where he studied painting at The Charlie Sheard Studio School and life drawing at Julian Ashton Art School. Since 2003, he’s been building a successful reputation with his abstract grid work.
His work is characterized by his love of intricate line detail and a bold and exuberant colour palette, taken from his experience as an abstract painter.
As a young boy in Ramle Israel, Yosi dreamt of becoming an animator. He spent his time drawing Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters. This childhood passion for animation is reflected in his work today, with his paintings, often a clash of quirky pop-culture creatures and virtual gaming.
Artist, Yosi Messiah
When I spoke with Yosi, he talked about the masks we all wear as members of society, explaining, “people wear masks and everyone judges you by your mask. When the mask comes off and you get to know people, it can become quite beautiful.
“I show some figures in my paintings with masks and others without. To create society’s maze, I mix layers of colors – warm deserts meet cool ocean blues – and combine this with a graphic drawing style. It’s my way of building the layers of society or, as I refer to it, the cocktail that we are living in.”
Yosi frequently works on four or five paintings at the same time and finds “it’s best not to think and let the paint do the job, put energy in to make the work explode on the canvas.”
Painting with acrylics, he works from photographs to capture the composition of his figures. When asked about his work, Yosi says, “it’s eccentric, it’s out there…people either love it or hate it, and I love that.”
With thanks to A La Mode Sydney.
Sensual Season – Yosi Messiah
19 August – 1 September 2014
357 New South Head Road, Double Bay – Sydney
10am – 4pm Tuesday
10am – 7pm Wednesday
10am – 7pm Thursday
10am – 7pm Friday
10am – 4pm Saturday
10am – 4pm Sunday