Standing Figures | Gdaliah Suchowolsky

About the Work and the Creator / Gil Nir

The sculpture Standing Figures is composed of two short, massive anchor chains; facing frontally, they are vertically positioned one alongside the other. The chain links, which are made of cast steel, were taken from an anchor float that washed up on one of Israel’s shores. These links, which were designed to withstand tremendous physical pressure, are welded together in a manner that creates a powerful vertical tension, thus overcoming the material’s incredible weight. The result is a linear, vertical and static composition. Although the sculpture may be approached from all sides, the privileged viewpoint is the one facing its western façade.

The entire sculpture is only slightly taller than a human body. Each of the two "figures" is composed of a vertical series of five links; their organization is based on a mathematical and formal logic predicated upon hierarchy, rhythm and proportions. At the same time, the members of this  couple" may each be distinguished by their unique height, mass and design; moreover, these elements enable viewers to recognized one figure as the "man" and the other as the "woman," despite the absence of clear identifying details.

Apart from the top links of both structures, which have been cut or rotated in order to mark them as heads, the chain links have retained their original appearance, and still bear the year of their production, the stamp of the factory and a serial identification number. The geometric quality and continuity of each chain of links create a rhythmic play of matter in space. The appearance of these chains vacillates between oval and linear forms, stasis and dynamism, heaviness and lightness; this vacillation underscores the unmediated presence of the material - with the addition of the patina that accumulated on the surface due to corrosion and to the passage of time.

The Relationship Between Spirit and Matter
Standing Figures relates to the human figure in a succinct artistic language, at once abstract and geometric. These values, and the use of ready-made, industrial iron parts, transport the figures from the realm of the concrete and the specific to that of the symbolic and the universal, while giving expression to human existence in nature. The industrial materials, the relations between the two ungendered figures and the work's generic title, do not provoke narrative or mythological associations; rather, they focus on three themes central to this sculpture: the primacy of matter, the vertical dimension and the continuous existence of the human species on Earth.

Iron and industry are quintessential symbols of human achievements in the struggle to survive and cope with natural forces. Iron also symbolizes the aspiration to take over the world, nature and space - while the chain embodies values such as continuity and strength, which are based on the connection between its individual components. The transformation of a massive anchor chain into vertical structures resembling human beings, which are powerfully rooted in the ground, thus serves as a direct analogy for the relations between a series of materials and concepts, which are given expression in familiar structures: the continuum of heredity and existence; evolution; the relationship between spirit and matter; and man's aspiration to defy the force of gravity - the force that allows our world to exist while simultaneously anchoring man to the ground and limiting him.

Material and Force: A Delicate Equilibrium
Standing Figures is one of Gdaliah Suchowolsky’s first sculptures, and the only one concerned with a human figure in his entire oeuvre; it is part of a large group of sculptures composed of chain parts and other maritime elements, which have been situated on Israeli beaches. Most of his sculptures are objects concerned with play and movement, inviting viewers to interact with them. Each sculpture is unique, and attempts to come to terms with a specific formal and mathematical problem; at the same time, they are all concerned with the reciprocal relations and delicate equilibrium between material (mass, form and structure) and force (movement and energy).

His work is inspired by developments in international sculpture both during the first half of the 20^th century and during the 1960s. His sculptures bespeak a clear preference for the values of Constructivist sculpture, as given expression in the work of Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko, Nahum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner: these values include a fusion of art and science; a view of sculpture as architecture and as a feat of technology and engineering; the use of modern production methods and materials; the perception of volume as concept and of line as vector; and the underscoring of the tension between matter and force.

Maritime Debris in Sculpture

The use of maritime debris as sculptural material with charged associations has been familiar in Israeli sculpture ever since the 1950s, especially in the work of Yehiel Shemi. The use of chains similarly has precedents in Israeli sculpture; these include the memorial created by Itzhak Danziger (1969) for the first Jewish immigrants who came to the country illegally during the British Mandate, or Ezra Orion’s sculpture Ascendance (1966).

Orion’s sculpture is similarly composed of a thin vertical chain whose movement gives expression to the human desire to overcome the force of gravity. In Orion’s later sculptures, chains symbolize both human strength and an oppressive power. Suchowolsky’s work constitutes a unique personal interpretation of the principles of modernist sculpture, which ties together universal values and symbols in a reality based on experience, experimentation and a belief in rationalism.