David Gerstein (Israeli artist)

This article is about David Gerstein (artist). For David Gerstein (comics author), see David Gerstein.
David (Dudu) Gerstein
David Gerstein in his studio
Born (1944-11-14) 14 November 1944 (age 79)
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
NationalityIsraeli
Education
Known forpainting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, photography
Notable work
  • Momentum, Singapore
  • Peloton Wave, Hsinchu, South Korea
  • Spirit of Freedom, Tel Aviv University, Israel
MovementPop art, Figurative art
Awards


David (Dudu) Gerstein (Hebrew: דוד (דודו) גרשטיין) (born 14 November 1944) is an Israeli painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker.[3] He began as a figurative painter and was recipient of the Israel Museum Prize for illustration.[4] At the end of the 1970s, he wished to expand the limits of two-dimensional painting, into painting in three dimensions. He began cutting out the main subjects of each painting and, to cancel the background,[5] creating unique and iconic cutout images, free-standing in space, without the standard and traditional square frame.[6]

That led him to work in sculpture, mostly in wood and using industrial paint as coating. Through the use of primary colors and subject matters from our day-to-day life, he created a variation of personal pop-art style, which he defined as second-generation pop-art. Following the path of Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, and David Hockney, Gerstein similarly aimed at creating his personal post-pop art style, and left behind the monochromatic palette of oil and watercolors and used instead vibrant, design-oriented colors.[6]

From 1980 to 1995, he created mostly free-standing wooden sculptures, which he later abandoned when he found laser-cutting technology. By that, he pioneered the use of laser cutting in art and was the first artist to use multi-layered cutout steel wall-sculptures.[7]

Simultaneously to his wall-sculptures, Gerstein had a great interest in sculpture in public spaces. He created more than 40 sculptures in public squares and plazas in Israel alone. This led him to create many more large-scale outdoor sculptures in England, France, Sweden, Italy, China, South Korea, and other countries.[3][6]

His art was shown in museums around the world, beginning in Israel Museum in 1987.[8] In 2016 he won Taiwan's Artistic Creation Award.[1] His sculptures of bicycle riders were purchased by Lance Armstrong, and were mentioned in Stephen King's writings.[9] His outdoor sculpture "Momentum" is Singapore's tallest public sculpture.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Ministry of Culture-Local Happenings". Archived from the original on 2021-04-20.
  2. ^ In 1980 Gerstein was awarded the Ben-Yitzhak Israel Museum Prize for illustrations for book by Uri Orlev, Siamina and the Cats of Yemin Moshe, Am Oved Publishers, Tel Aviv 1979. See: The Big Book of Illustrators, Nurit-Shilo Cohen, ed., Israel Museum, pub., 2005.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Aviv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ In 1980 Gerstein was awarded the Ben-Yitzhak Israel Museum Prize for illustrations for book by Uri Orlev, Siamina and the Cats of Yemin Moshe, Am Oved Publishers, Tel Aviv 1979. See: The Big Book of Illustrators, Nurit-Shilo Cohen, ed., Israel Museum, pub., 2005.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Irena Gordon, Introduction to David Gerstein, Sculptures, Studio Gerstein pub., 2006
  8. ^ "מוזיאון ישראל מרכז מידע לאמנות ישראלית - תערוכות: גרשטיין, דוד (דודו)". museum.imj.org.il. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  9. ^ See, for example, Duma Key by Stephen King
  10. ^ Wong Mun Wai, Singapore's tallest public sculpture in the CBD is completed, Channel NewsAsia, at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/320058/1/.html Archived 2011-08-30 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved: 09.10.2011