The Red Fish 1991

Curator: What a curious creature swimming through an inky expanse. Editor: This is Alexander Bogen's "The Red Fish," created in 1991 using mixed media techniques. The image has this quality that I can’t shake…almost unsettling, isn’t it? Curator: Yes, it’s the stark contrast. The single red figure, sharply defined against a blurry, unfathomable blue. And what are those black forms around it, almost like gaping holes in reality? Editor: Bogen lived through immense historical and political turmoil in Eastern Europe, including WWII, eventually becoming a cultural figure in Israel. You can feel some of that weighty history bleeding through what would seem like simple, aquatic imagery. There’s definitely something more than just decorative marine life happening here. Curator: The geometric elements slice through the watery blue – fracturing what could have been tranquility. Yet that little red fish, seemingly simple, becomes such a beacon of resilience against such overwhelming darkness. It almost feels liturgical; this is more than meets the eye. Editor: Abstraction offered many artists refuge to express ideas in times of cultural repression. It wasn’t direct or documentary, which meant the state couldn’t necessarily co-opt it so readily for its messaging. Looking at this, I get that tension, a feeling that any minute now this simple abstraction is ready to roar its message. Curator: Indeed. It hums with latent energy, almost dares you to find the truth it keeps obscured. Bogen definitely leaves us more to question than to resolve here. Editor: I'm left thinking how even a seemingly simple, almost childlike, image carries historical scars and enduring hope. The quiet revolution.