In the beginning there was a circle ...

Drawing circles for me is not just an esthetic process. Unlike Jasper Johns  who drew circles and called them "Target", following American pop art iconography, one that was grounded in materialism or consumerism.  For me circles have a metaphysic expression, related to the desire to present an abstract reality, one that illustrates a symbol that is at the  origin of creation and reproduction.  In all our scientific inquiries, we find the circle at the center of every discovery. Our entire universe revolves  around geometric concepts where the circle is at the origin of everything  from the big bang theory to the molecular concept of the atom. As an artist profoundly interested in all aspects of mysticism, it is a world  that I am constantly fascinated by, what is the meaning of the circle ?   The notion of infinite , the idea of defying time, defying death by the  inclusion of colors in the process of painting circles enables my imagination to create these immeasurable worlds where energy, time and space commingle to create a holistic harmony that result in the interpretation of life itself. Acrylic on Wood 2011

France, Consul General Lalliot , Harlem Academy and Ron Agam

I am a very lucky artist, as you can see in these pictures, I was privileged to spend some quality time with a class of fourth grader of the Harlem Academy. As I promised the school a while ago, I came back to the children to offer them a gift of my artwork.

This gift was given to the school in honor of France and its amazing Consul General in the City, Philippe Lalliot. Philippe is very involved to help the school and its children, as he understood that diplomacy is not only nice speeches but also real effective work that impact lives especially young souls.

So for a little time Philippe and I shared our experiences in front of the children, Philippe talked about what it is to be a senior diplomat representing France in NY and I interacted with the children about creativity and imagination. My message was to empower these young souls on their faculty to imagine and change the world. I let these young children express their understanding of my art and then gave them my explanation about the process and its intuitive part.

There is nothing more rewarding than to challenge these young students to excel and influence them about their unlimited abilities to believe than they can aspire to anything in life when they trust their ability to imagine and be part of a creative process. 

In offering them "Galaxy Growth", they understood the complexity of the circles and their individual colors, the expansion and the collective meaning of diversity and differences all in a rainbow of colors that illustrate our unlimited potential as people and individual living in Harmony.

French Consul General Philippe Lalliot

French Consul General Philippe Lalliot

Artist Ron Agam

Ron Agam talking about his gift to the school

French Consul General Philippe Lalliot
RonAgam ,  School Director Vincent Dotoli

Artist Ron Agam presents Harlem Academy with a generous and beautiful gift - one of his pieces of artwork. 

Pictured are the Consul General of France in New York Mr. Philippe Lalliot, Mr. Ron Agam, Head of School Vinny Dotoli, and the grade-four class

Memories in the Atelier

The Work

Growing up as a child in Paris the 1960’s, I remember spending endless hours in my father’s atelier, later we learned that Paul Gauguin had worked in this place as well. I used to hang around him, playing with painting tube full of luscious and vibrating colors. Often I will take a brush and try to emulate my dad, but the results were often closer to a “gribouillage”¹ than anything that I will consider an “artwork” today. But the most impressive part were the glass palettes filled with literally hundreds of different colors. The sight of it was truly just unbelievable. The memories of this atelier follow me today almost 40 years after as some of the most wonderful images embedded in my little child head. So today, I just filmed a little clip of my humble studio were just a few colors were on my table while I was working on this new small painting. I did just thinking back about my childhood.

1.) scribble

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

                            Ron Agam in front of Kabbala in G

Being the grandson of an important Kabbalist, Rabbi Yehoshua Gibstein, I was always mystically attached to a concept, an idea, of something that I could never really explain. I grew up on stories about the ascetic and mystic life of my grand father. My Father's complexity and superlative intellect was for me, the heritage of his father, I could not reason otherwise. Today I can better comprehend this link and gift that was given to me and transmitted trough generations. The painting that you are seeing is named Kabbalah in Gold, in this work I translate the quintessence of red in two tones that are linked by a strip of gold, these two shades are encompassing the significance of the color red linked by gold which is this metal often related to something precious and sanctified throughout history. Red being the color of blood the essence of life , or wine . Wine being the liquid that you drink when you celebrated life. In Judaism there is nothing more holly than to celebrate life in happiness and joy. For me this painting is also the gift of life after coming from a near fatal condition a few months ago, this painting represents all that I aspire in terms of spirituality and life. It is a pure abstract expression of existence.