Lying in the Breeze, mixed media and resin on canvas, 19 x 74 inches
Tribe, mixed media and resin on canvas, 76 x 66 inches
Whispers of a Stolen Afternoon, mixed media and resin on canvas, 46 x 33 inches
House of Cards, mixed media and resin on canvas, 45 x 37 inches
Menage en Afrique (triptych), mixed media and resin on canvas, 47 x 187 inches
Before the Animal Noises Begin, mixed media and resin on canvas, 62 x 44 inches
Swept Under, mixed media and resin on canvas, 62 x 44 inches
No Longer Wound-Up, mixed media and resin on canvas, 45 x 37 inches
Roulette, mixed media and resin on canvas, 66 x 52 inches
Asphalt Jungle, mixed media and resin on canvas, 33 x 102 inches
All I Need, mixed media and resin on canvas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MICHEL TABORI
January 10 – February 9, 2008
Opening reception January 10, 6 – 8 pm
Dillon Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Michel Tabori. Spending 30 years as a cinematographer, Tabori ventures into a new realm by creating mixed-media images that transform people, places, and things of personal importance.
His “flexible light installations” as the artist refers to his work; all begins with an idea and starts his creative process by taking a series of photographs. He shoots places, people, and experiences that have shaped his life and are of importance to him. He uses his expertise with photography to distill the images in an abstract way. His work is scaled to these specific spaces with the dimension of the work appropriate to the space, according to the artist.
His process includes shooting on film, digitizing the film, poetically reducing their character, portraying an essence of expense. He then, transfers the image onto canvas, paints using an airbrush and acrylic, then pours resin on work.
In hopes to create a visceral experience for the viewer, Tabori celebrates the refinement of a fixed medium, rather than that of moving, celluloid forms.
MICHEL TABORI
Born in Paris and raised in New York, Tabori is currently based in Venice California. Tabori’s career spanned two decades in film before moving to still images, where he incorporates his cinematic expertise and visual acuity in his vibrant artworks.Tabori describes his work as “flexible light installations,” meaning that the work has no absolute dimension. The piece is scaled to the context and space in which it is exhibited. The experience is subjective and variable. It involves light and shadow, surface and depth, reflection and refraction. All of Tabori’s works start out as one or more photographs. Each one begins from inspiration, occasioned by nature, by a person, by music. The photographs are then digitized and the images distilled to an elemental, abstract essence. Details are emphasized or obliterated in the process of enlargement. Colors are exaggerated and distorted to better reflect the underlying truth of the experience. The images are next transferred to canvas, where Tabori paints and covers them in a deep glossy resin. The end result of this mixed-media work of photography, digital imaging and painting is visually rich and arresting.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2010 Dillon Gallery, Michel Tabori, New York City
- 2009 The Edge Gallery, Three Days and Nights in the Desert, Santa Fe, NM
- 2009 William Turner Gallery, No Time to Pretend, Santa Monica, CA
- 2008 Dillon Gallery, Michel Tabori, New York City
- 2007 William Turner Gallery, New Work II, Santa Monica, CA
- 2006 Berman Turner Projects, New Works, Santa Monica, CA
- 2005 William Turner Gallery, New Work, Santa Monica, CA