Tel Aviv based artist Gal Weinstein (born in Ramat Gan in 1970) is one of the internationally renowned artists of his generation. Gal Weinstein is best-known for his project “Huleh Valley”, where he created a large-format installation covering the floor at Helena Rubinstein Pavillion for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv and wall paintings which address the famous swamp draining and land reclamation project in Huleh Valley. The government had commissioned the drainage of the 1.5 square km lake in 1951, to convert it into arable land for future generations of farmers.
In his exhibition in Kunsthaus Baselland organized last year, Gal Weinstein presented his latest series of works, “Fire Tires”. The motif of burning tires is a universal code which we associate with socio-political unrest, revolution, and also with various, mostly pagan customs. “Car tires are cheap fuel,” says the artist and thus also explains why this material is used worldwide, when a fire is started for fun or – as we increasingly experience it – fire kindled as a symbol of (political and social) upheavals. The tires are moulded from wax, the construction material consists of polystyrene foam and the surface of the smoke clouds consists of artificial pillow filling, complemented by multi-coloured graphite dust. Distributed in the exhibition space, the sculptures become almost pop-art-like icons that are able to enter into an immediate relation with the recipient due to their quick legibility.
Source: Kunsthaus Baselland
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