Soul Matters (Pikuach Nefesh)
Yoni Hamburger
Yoni Hamburger’s gaze is fixed on the human face. From a young age, even before beginning formal art studies, he wandered the streets sketching figures that crossed his path, striving to penetrate each character’s psyche, to expose its inner drama, to capture a “decisive moment” of the soul. Through expressive, intense paintings, he seeks to strip away masks, loosen constraints, and touch what lies hidden; both in the psyche and within the painting itself.
In 2016, Hamburger returned to Israel after a decade of living and creating in New York and Philadelphia. The works in Soul Matters were created since his return. A powerful and expressive body of work, sometimes wild, seemingly reflecting a renewed confrontation with the Israeli space: exposed, primal, coarse, and at times violent. He combines large-scale portraits with densely packed facial depictions, almost grotesque comic-like images, hurling unrestrained, direct gazes at the viewer.
On one hand, they glow, eye-catching and seemingly cheerful, echoing the artificial light of screens and parties; on the other, they are blinding and toxic in appearance, associated with warning signs and danger.
The colors are intense, radiant, fluorescent — nearly blinding, always phosphorescent. Hamburger uses fluorescent color not just as an aesthetic choice, but as a core mode of expression. These hues have accompanied his work for years, creating in his paintings a tension between visual allure and a sense of threat. On one hand, they glow, attracting the eye with a seemingly cheerful vibe, echoing the artificial light of screens and parties; on the other, they are blinding and toxic in appearance, associated with warning signs and danger.
Whether we are looking at a single, contemplative figure or a stormy cluster of wide-eyed faces — Hamburger’s painting always acts as an arena — an arena of the soul: exposed, turbulent, and at times on the verge of explosion.
Ravit Harari