Ron Agam’s Relentless Attempt to Repair the Imperfect World
Artist is using an enlarged flower as a symbol of purity in hopes that its fragility and perfection will encourage us to treasure and care for our planet.
INTERVIEW WITH RON AGAM
Artist RON AGAM
from artist’s archives
Born in 1958, and raised between Paris and Rehovot, Israel, painter Ron Agam only took up the paintbrush later in life, following a long and successful career as a fine art photographer. Yet, the robustness and sheer prolificacy of his output since belies the charge that this newfound passion is anything but a calling. Since first embracing his new medium a few short years ago, Ron Agam’s creative energy has burst forth, embracing a dizzying array of techniques and a brilliant spectrum of forms, in an ever-expanding constellation of individual works. From lenticular, optical experiments to distilled, saturated color-fields, Ron Agam’s work has, canvas by canvas, explored the process of seeing, all the while keeping an eye on the prize of metaphysical meaning.
Artist Ron Agam with French Ambassador Philippe Etienne
From artist's archives
LC: What role does the artist have in the society?
RA: The role of a creative person is to open a window of imagination in others. It’s to take us away from the mundane, to introduce us to the world that’s limitless. Look at a newborn child, he sees before he can understand anything, the child is usually very driven to create. Artists are essential for every society and their duty is to open a new field of thought. Some of the greatest artists are the people that were able to keep their inner child alive.
LES COULEURS: What art do you mostly identify with yourself?
RON AGAM: I grew up in Paris, but my mother loved Italy, so we would go to Florence frequently. She would take us to Galleria degli Uffizi where I would look at the works of the Renaissance masters. There was one piece by Piero della Francesca that I fell in love with, it was the portrait of a young prince. I was so fascinated by its extraordinary expression and colors, that it made a long-lasting impact on me.
Artist Ron Agam in his studio
LC: What role did your dad play in your career as an artist?
RA: My father, Yaacov Agam is a great artist too, truly legendary. He is known for pioneering kinetic art, he is in almost every major museum in the world. Naturally, my environment influenced me a lot, I was really born at a right place and at a right time. As children, we were always drawing by our father’s side, he was very patient and was teaching us. All my life I was surrounded by art. My father’s studio used to belong to Paul Gauguin, there you could feel truly a special atmosphere. I experienced the happiest moments of my life while doing my work, it has always been my refuge.
RON AGAM
from artist’s archives
LC: When did you start painting?
RA: It was unthinkable, almost suicidal for me to start painting, and so I tried to break through. At the age of 52, I went on an adventure, and when I started it, I wasn’t even expecting to sell a single painting. Before that, I did everything you can think of: I owned an art gallery, I did photography, I was dealing art, I created all kinds of businesses.
Inspiration is something godly, it’s something that’s gifted. So all these challenges made my story very unique, that’s by itself something that history will have to judge. Just about a year after I started painting, I fell very sick. When I finally recovered, my doctor advised me to take it easy. Me, having this second chance in life, I wanted to maximize the opportunity, to fully take advantage of it. Today, I would like to use my story to inspire others, to never loose trust in yourself.
RON AGAM
from artist’s archives
LC: What doest your art aim to say?
RA: It should uplift the human spirit. I can show my artwork anywhere in the world and people from various walks of life will connect, it is universal kind of connection.
I like to contemplate the idea of disruption. Once, I portrayed the disruption in a perfect square, then later on, I created several works around this concept. Some works are about the movement, we activate change through a movement. Several Russian suprematists influenced me too, especially Malevich and El Lissitzky.
Before I became I painter, I photographed flowers for 2 years. I used to go to a flower shop and buy flowers. The urgent message of a climate change at a time really resonated with me. I think that flower is the most pure symbol of nature, it’s a godly perfection of geometry.
So I decided to enlarge it, to emphasize its fragility. Injustice is also something I think about a lot. I try to repair the world as much as I can, as I was myself victimized as a child and some antisemitic confrontations were especially hurtful.
Years ago, I did a big exhibition at one of the major galleries in Chelsea, during the 2008 financial crisis. It was beautiful to see that my flower images made even sad people smile. Exhibition was very successful and I was able to communicate my massage that’s at a core of our survival as a species, if we don’t take care of the planet we will soon disappear!
Before the first conference on climate change I gifted Former President of France, Sarkozy one of my flower artworks. It was a symbolic gift from me to him, because flower represents everything we try to preserve. The flower series was what psychologically prepared me for painting. The geometry of a flower is just so perfect. Our subconscious is very important, the two years of photographing flowers really influenced me.
Madonna bought few of my artworks, because she felt it had a connection to Kabbalah. My brother is immersed in Kabbalah, my dad is fascinated with it too.
About three years ago I participated in the show at the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam, which was organized around the idea of Kabbalah. Artworks of some other very prominent artists were exhibited there too: Marc Chagall, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Barnett Newman to name a few. When I got to Amsterdam and saw my artwork placed in the very the center of the museum, it warmed my heart immensely, I knew something major is happening in my career.
RON AGAM
From artist’s archives
