(click on image to enlarge)
above: Tikkun Bavel (The Reparation of Babel) , Yossi Veissid (6" x 2" detail from 30" x 44" original)
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As a child in Israel, Yossi Veissid found refuge from the threat of war in the bustling streets that wound between ancient and modern buildings. Now an artist and architect living in Boston, Veissid creates his own complex cities with pen on paper, depicting stunning landscapes ruled by fantastical natural laws of his own device.
A solo exhibit of Veissid's recent work, Babel, opens Thursday May 21 at 13FOREST Gallery in Arlington with a reception from 7-9 pm. The show, which runs through July 9, includes a series of drawings from Veissid which re-interpret the ancient story of the Tower of Babel, as well as other new works.
The centerpiece of Babel is Tikkun Bavel (The Reparation of Babel), a large-scale pen-and-marker drawing of a tower rendered as a series of disparate urban civilizations. Veissid’s astonishingly intricate drawing style and thematic interest in renewal within destruction are much in evidence in the piece. Buildings soar from the picture plane in multiple perspectives as an elaborate road system connects landscapes in varying stages of emergence and decay.
A mere nine verses in Genesis, the original Babel story tells of how the Babylonians, united by a single language, built a glorious tower in tribute to human ingenuity and to reach divinity. God stopped the building by dividing workers into different languages so they could no longer communicate. Veissid re-envisions this punishment as a heavenly gift to humankind, believing multiple languages have fostered human achievements not possible in a mono-lingual world.
The Babel exhibit will be discussed during a reception on June 18 from 7-9 pm in a short talk entitled The Tower of Babel - The Blessing of Diversity, presented by rabbinical student Lila Veissid, the artist's wife. Both events for Babel - the opening reception and the talk - take place as part of the ongoing Third Thursday series in East Arlington's Capitol Square. |
About Yossi Veissid
Yossi Veissid graduated from the school of architecture at the Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem. Before moving to Boston in 2004, Veissid had his own architectural design studio in Tel Aviv for eight years, working for a variety of private and corporate clients. During that time, he also had an academic career as a lecturer of architecture and design, while developing his unique style as an artist. Veissid had several solo shows in Israel, as well as in Seattle and Boston.
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