THE COLD EQUATOR

November 17th 2001- January 8th 2002

Joesph Dadoune is a French artist whose work defies conventional definitions regarding media. The five works he chose for this exhibit were culled from a group of over 300 photos produced from the series Bienvenue Au Club (Welcome To The Club). Dadoune can also be seen as a director, since he is interested in the thin line between film stills and plastic art photography, which can be viewed as a further exploration of the high vs. low art dialogue. Currently he is working on a film project entitled VG-93700. Recently, his work has also been on view in two exhibitions in alternative spaces in Toulouse, France.

Israeli artist Gil Jacobson works primarily in painting and photography. The two works on view in The Cold Equator show are part of his Hawaiian Eye project. Much of Jacobson's work confronts issues of semiotics and the problems inherent in the construct of language by utilizing the often universal meanings of homosexual codes. The term Hawaiian Eye, which has as its root meaning "eye of the storm," is itself a reference to the homosexual slang term for "anus." Also, the prevalent round motifs found in these works are meant to portray the story of Narcissus during the moment when the beautiful youth's body enters the lake. One of the works in the show, Nipped from the Hawaiian Eye, derives its name from the colloquialism which connotes a Jewish homosexual.

Doron Rabina is an Israeli artist who works in a variety of media, but is primarily concerned with painting and photography. The beautiful, spurious, glossy smooth surfaces of the media world and the hyper-stylized world of design have always been the focus of Rabina's artistic attention. His ultra-thin paintings, the flat object paintings and optical painting - objects that he creates involve a careful study of the interdependence of photography and painting. For this show, he has chosen one large scale painting entitled Rimming (Shark), 2001. Rabina is a critically acclaimed artist, whose awards include the 1997 Ingeborg Bachman Scholarship established by the Anselm Kiefer, Wolf Foundation.