EVGENY MERMAN | NOAH & THE REST

Evgeny Merman | Noah & the Rest | 05.09.2024 - 01.11.2024

The new series of paintings by Evgeny Merman (b.1977 Kyiv, Ukraine) reinterprets the biblical character of Noah from a contemporary artistic perspective. This series, which began in February 2023, offers a striking reimagining of the epic tale from the Book of Genesis. It features large canvases infused with radiant colors – a technique characteristic of Merman, who identifies as a Neo-Expressionist. Also included are oil miniatures based on intaglios from the Medieval period, demonstrating a delicate, multi-layered painting style that underscores the universality of Noah, a figure present in monotheistic religions

While Western art has often depicted the scene known as Drunkenness of Noah for moralistic reasons, Israeli artists have used the Ark as a metaphor for social concepts. In his unique approach Merman focuses on Noah's complex nature as described in Genesis: a righteous, innocent man who saved humanity and the animal kingdom but is also shown as a flawed father and a drunkard. Merman draws inspiration from Darren Aronofsky's film "Noah" (2014), which depicted Noah as an anti-hero. Aesthetically his work incorporates symbolic gestures such as Hebrew words, Soviet visual language, and references to biblical apocrypha, as well as a conversation with different masters: Paul Klee in his exceptional transitions between the abstract and the figurative, Michelangelo (who famously painted Noah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) and Katsushika Hokusai – whose 19th century prints celebrated the genre known as ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world”.

Merman’s exploration of Noah resonates with the contemporary context of uncertainty, war and conflict in Ukraine and Israel, and with the threat of global environmental crisis. The artistic interpretation prompts new reflections: Can a better reality emerge from a moral crisis? Is a total erasure of the past required to start over?