Arts & Entertainment
Man In Motion
At age 80, Israeli-born artist Yaacov Agam remains vibrant.
Gabriella Burman
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Detroit
I
t would be easy to characterize
Yaacov Agam as a painter in the twi-
light of his career.
The celebrated Israeli artist, who turned
80 in May, is focused on preserving his
legacy of great public works and building
an eponymous museum in his birthplace,
Rishon LeZion.
Agam is set in his ways and topics he
wants to discuss, and he hires the same
French-speaking limousine driver when-
ever he visits the United States.
But that would be a superficial dis-
missal of the artist, who like his surname,
the Hebrew word for "lake shimmers with
infinite ideas beneath the surface.
For starters, he said, "I don't feel 80. And
anyway, 80 in the Talmud corresponds to
strength!'
The dark moustache of his youth has
given way to a long white beard, but the
deeply spiritual Agam remains serious,
sharp and agile. He is at work on a show
to be unveiled in his adopted city of Paris
in October that he promises is "completely
new."
Agam also has been jet-setting to
birthday parties in his honor in Miami
and Detroit. In New York City, the French
and Israeli consulates held a joint event in
honor of Israel's 60th anniversary and "80
years of Agam."
He also aspires to win a Nobel Prize for
an award-winning educational program
he developed that strengthens visual skills
and memory in preschool children. Many
schools across Israel have implemented
the Agam Smarts program.
In visual cognition tests conducted
by the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, children were asked to identify
shapes in complex drawings. Those who
participated in the exercises outperformed
those who did not.
"This will be my greatest contribution,
as important as my artwork:' Agam said.
"Because if we can learn a new way to see,
we can unleash creativity; and creativity
brings solutions to the world."
His own creations run counter to the
time-bound nature of most artworks he
saw as a young man.
Viewing a painting was like "looking at
1
I
I
I
Above: Agam married a basic
premise of Jewish mysticism
— that one never stops transform-
ing as long as one is alive — to
kinetic art, a movement that
incorporates motion into artistic
expression.
Left: Yaacov Agam. In May, the
French and Israeli consulates in
New York City held a joint event
in honor of Israel's 60th anniver-
sary and Agam's 80th birthday.
a gravestone he said. "It was in the past
and never changing."
The concept was at odds with the kab-
balistic upbringing by his father, Rabbi
Yehoshua Gibstein, the author of several
books on Jewish spirituality who also was
known to doodle on napkins.
Agam married a basic premise of
Jewish mysticism — that one never stops
transforming as long as one is alive — to
kinetic art, a movement that incorporates
motion into artistic expression. The move-
ment, which has existed since the early
20th century, is best represented in the
larger-art world by sculptor Alexander
Calder.
Among Agam's greatest works reflect-
ing this aesthetic are the monumental
fountain integrating sculpture, light and
the musical orchestration of water jets
in La Defense, Paris's business district;
the Dizengoff Plaza fountain of water,
fire and music in Tel Aviv; and countless
"Agamographs," many of them containing
Jewish subject matter, which present dif-
ferent images depending on the viewing
angle.
The works all contain the colors of the
rainbow, a universal image that Agam has
called God's first gift of art to man.
Not everyone agrees that Agam's oeuvre
will stand the test of time. Some critics
contend that Agam has made a career of
one idea and never evolved, while others
call it a fertile concept that has sustained
him for more than 60 years of making art.
"I think he's a stone genius," said Morris
Shapiro, the gallery director at Park West
Gallery in Southfield, which has exhib-
ited and sold Agam for decades and also
hosted a birthday party for him May 18 in
Detroit. "He took up the thread of aesthet-
ics that had been cast aside by conceptual
artists such as Marcel DuChamp, added
the dimensions of time and space and has
taken painting to another level."
Agam has an ardent following among
Jews and non-Jews.
Dr. Steven Eisen of Las Vegas and his
wife, Stacey, own 12 Agamographs. Eisen's
appreciation of the artist's work is twofold.
"I like the dynamism and the painstak-
ing effort of using hundreds of different
colors — that's what catches my eye
Eisen said. "I also like the Jewish symbols
represented. They mean something to us.
It's certainly nice to have Jewish references
in our art collection."
The Eisens, active synagogue-goers,
are considering building a larger home
because they are running out of wall
space.
Chris Cameron, of Beverly Hills, Mich.,
who is a Christian, owns nine Agam works
of various sizes and shapes, including
two paintings with movable pieces and
an Agam necklace made up of nine con-
centric circles that can be taken apart and
rearranged.
Cameron says she is intrigued not only
by Agam's intellect but also his religious
beliefs.
"I've gained an appreciation of his reli-
gion through his art:' she said. "There's
a lot more going on in the painting than
what meets the eye initially"
Such comments would seem to mirror
Agam's understanding of his own work.
"Central to Judaism is its emphasis
on life, and the only constant in life is
change the artist said. "This is what I've
incorporated into my art, and today's
society is finally starting to understand
this." 0
Yaacov Agam is represented by Park
West Gallery, 29469 Northwestern
Hwy., in Southfield. (248) 354-2343.
July 3 2008
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