{"id":61596,"date":"2023-07-02T05:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T04:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=61596"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:18:34","slug":"ofer-lellouche-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/ofer-lellouche-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Ofer Lellouche exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouchesmall.jpg\" alt=\"Part of a museum sign\" class=\"wp-image-61590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouchesmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouchesmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Israeli artist Ofer Lellouche joins a figure-oriented summer of exhibitions at the Albertina. His art has a passive intensity that practically forces you into deep thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mainly drawings, prints and sculptures<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some 46 works<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs Jun 29 &#8211; Sept 19, 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina\/\">Albertina overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#modernart\">contemporary art exhibitions<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Self and portraits<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"342\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche1.jpg\" alt=\"Self-portrait charcoal drawing by Ofer Lellouche\" class=\"wp-image-61592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche1-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Ofer Lellouche, Self-Portrait with a Raised Hand, 2012, charcoal on paper; The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna &#8211; Donation Ofer Lellouche 2023 in memory of Jan Krugier | Photo: Elad Sarig \u00a9 Ofer Lellouche)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the many pleasures of visiting the Albertina is the mix. The chance to experience something relatively new (especially to me, uneducated as I am) alongside the familiar. A taste of the contemporary in among the Picassos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ofer Lellouche exhibition is an example, my visit prompted by the first words in the text made available for members of the press:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Isolation, burnt skin, disfigured faces<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Intriguing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in French Tunisia in 1947, Lellouche studied in Paris and Tel Aviv (he still lives and works in both cities).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of Lellouche&#8217;s art deals with self-portraits and human figures, and these dominate the exhibition. They do not, however, evoke some simplistic dystopian nightmare, as those five words above might imply if taken out of context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The works on display &#8211; prints, drawings and sculptures &#8211; certainly make an intense impression, though. Dark but not classically macabre. Unthreatening, but still worthy of a look over your shoulder now and then just in case. All part of a wider progression built through Lellouche&#8217;s career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The disparity between our experienced norms and Lellouche&#8217;s representations leads, as so often on any trip around an art gallery, to questions. The whys and wherefores. The blurring of borders between reality and perception&#8230;your interpretation may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche2.jpg\" alt=\"Terracotta head by Ofer Lellouche\" class=\"wp-image-61593\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche2.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/lellouche2-300x285.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Ofer Lellouche, Head, 2009, terracotta; The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna \u2013 donated in 2020 by Ofer Lellouche in memory of Dov Gottesman \u00a9 Ofer Lellouche)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lellouche himself notes wryly and accurately:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>A self-portrait is not a selfie.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Those self-portraits morphed through time, even prompting a change of medium and\/or motif. Lellouche states, for example that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The more I tried to grasp the face I saw in the mirror, the more it escaped me. The more obscure and anonymous it became, until it looked like a rock or a stone. My self-portraits became landscapes. And so I decided to start working outdoors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And this in turn led to self-portraits within landscapes. Ebb and flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Certainly I found myself urged into contemplation, an emotion shared with some of the portrayed faces and heads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many seem to stare past you (or not at all), lost somewhere in thought. The newer self-portraits seemed to lock eyes more readily, or perhaps that was just a consequence of our shared ageing process. I&#8217;d love to chat with the man himself over a coffee (unsweetened and no milk).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Afterwards, it comes as quite a shock to emerge into the bright light of a Vienna summer and the hubbub of buses and visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>View Lellouche&#8217;s works from June 29th to September 19th, 2023. An entrance ticket for or from the Albertina includes this (and all) special exhibitions inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drawings and the human form feels like a theme this summer in the Albertina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, you have the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/gods-heroes-traitors\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"60588\">Gods, Heroes and Traitors<\/a> exhibition (until August 22nd, 2023) with works on paper depicting scenes from mythology and religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/baselitz-100-drawings\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"60652\">Georg Baselitz exhibition<\/a> honouring the artist&#8217;s donation of significant drawings to the Albertina and the Morgan Library (until September 17th, 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow the tips at the end of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2995\">main Albertina Page<\/a>. The Lellouche exhibition occupies the columned galleries on the ground floor. Once you pass the ticket check, go left and immediately right to walk up the lovely red carpeted hall; look for the entrance on your left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1zfWanf5rPBbnTLLDuah2uixe-Nw\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israeli artist Ofer Lellouche joins a figure-oriented summer of exhibitions at the Albertina. His art has a passive intensity that practically forces you into deep thought. Self and portraits (Ofer Lellouche, Self-Portrait with a Raised Hand, 2012, charcoal on paper; The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna &#8211; Donation Ofer Lellouche 2023 in memory of Jan Krugier | [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-61596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61596"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85965,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61596\/revisions\/85965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}