Orit Hofshi’s IFPDA Fine Art Print FairPicks
IPFDA Executive Director Jenny Gibbs invited Israeli artist Orit Hofshi to select her favorites from the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair. Hofshi’s printmaking practice focuses on woodcuts which are both intimate and monumental, creating heroic installations with an implicit moral message placing them somewhere on the old-school Academic hierarchy of genres between history and landscape. Fittingly, as an artist who cites artists from Albrecht Durer to Kathe Kollwitz as inspiration, she has curated an historically and stylistically far-reaching list, from an enigmatic figurative work by German Expressionist Erich Hechel to an iconic minimalist work by Donald Judd, with thoughts of art and universal truth from Friedrich Nietzche uniting them.
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Orit Hofshi
June 6, 2020 --- Herzliya, Israel
“We have art in order not to die of the truth. We have art so we shall not die of reality. There is one thing one has to have either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge. ” - Friedrich Nietzsche
Words are perhaps slightly dramatic, but I have to admit the recent few months have been quite overwhelming emotionally as well as rationally. The raging international pandemic, the multiple social, political and racist outbursts, are accentuated by the recent alarming and tragic events in the US. I have been trying to comprehend the barrage of events, harnessing waves of deep-rooted anxiety, while looking ahead as an individual and as part of the greater whole.
The exciting invitation by the IFPDA to view this amazing collection of artworks and select several is almost therapeutic to me and a bit daunting There is much reassurance and comfort accompanied by a sense of purpose and commitment, when looking at artwork ranging from the great masters to current intriguing artists. Art work has depicted humans’ complex coexistence with the environment and natural forces as well as reflected the fragile often-turbulent social structures and agendas. My selections are inspired by this continuing introspective journey and undertaking, hopefully shared by artists and viewers alike.
