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In his new photoWorks, as in his paintings, artist Zigi Ben-Haim creates a new world that exists somewhere between abstraction and representation. Aptly titled "Naked City", this series of photographs of the watery surface of Venice canals reveals layers of the city's cultural history. When refracted through water, the familiar elements of Venice compose glimpses of a kind of aqueous archaeology. Ben-Haim has captured fleeting reflections that expose inter-actions between nature and culture not easily seen in the real world.
Mounted on hand-brushed aluminum, the watery photos loaded with content delve deeper into the urban fabric.
Through the medium of a city-sustaining network of water, the architecture transforms into amorphous, organic shapes, the reflections of building facades and shutter slats often appear biological, as if in the midst of fusion or division. This manifestation of growth is essential to Ben-Haim's work, which sets nature and culture into a generative exchange.
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