Jonathan Ofek was raised in a family that provided him with the tools and foundations of his art.
This series presents an attempt to reach the essence by way of his work. His work derives its aspiration from various sources: Mesopotamic, early Christian and south American arts. Hence, he brings us something fresh and original, something that arises from the intuitive world of the artist.

Jonathan Ofek’s work in this exhibition revolves totally around the duality of the relationship between couples.
As Jonathan states, a couple is the smallest social unit – the two partners in a couple are like two points connected by a line.
And the human connecting line passes through the hands: all the figures’ hands are large, way beyond proportion.

The enlargement of the hands creates the feeling of an active emotional connection, a connection wherein the act is at the center: one of the figures aims at his partner, as though pointing out his existence; another tries to choke his partner/enemy:
One greets another, removes him as he has been wounded, removes a thorn from his foot. Relationships are built around actions – a good or a bad act.

Many laws and commandments in Judaism stresses the practical side in the relation between man and man and serve as a foundation for family, group and national life. Jonathan’s works present a kind of index, a dictionary of the relationships between couples, centered around the act. The figures are closely connected by strong emotional charges that move from aggression and power to gentleness and intimacy.

The figures are not clearly defined as men or women, they have no unique characteristics: their facial features are much the same, their clothing is identical and lacks association with a particular place or culture. In this sense, these are prototypes of every man. Apart from the hands, the facial features and eyes are noticeable as well.

These characteristics connect them to the Shumeri- Mesopotamic sculpture (for instance, the figures of the god Abu with his priests and prayers in the Asmar temple dating back to 3000 AC), to pre-Colombian sculpture, and to ancient Christian icons wherein the eyes played a significant role in creating the connection between the image of God and the believer.

Their smile resembles the immortal smile of the pre-classic Greek sculptures.
The similarity between the figures turns them into one another’s shadows; and it sometimes seems that what we see here is an internal struggle- two inner forces functioning together.

Jonathan’s works strive to touch the essence. The essence which can be found when examining relationships between people is the basis for a shared life. His work suggests what seems to be missing in today’s art: freshness, purity, vitality: the foundation of the relationships between men.