The alienness of man in the world has been a prominent theme at all times and in all cultures. Ofer Lellouche (b. 1947 in Tunis) approaches it also against the background of his own identity. It is a universal existential experience that prompts Lellouche to create his monumental woodcuts, drawings, and sculptures.

The work of the artist, who lives in Tel Aviv and Paris, is characterized by a fixation on the human form—stark naked—and on the head and face, which makes it akin to that of Alberto Giacometti or the self-portraits of Jim Dine. Facing us, his figures are mute. Despite their passivity, solely by their presence, these bodies confront us with the question of being through their shocking power and unsurpassable intensity. In their constant repetition, Lellouche’s self-portraits are a form of continuous self-reflection that comprises inner and outer perception at the same time. Reality and image alternately adapt to each other in a relationship of tension, while the artist assures himself of his own existence.

Albertina Wien