Alien objects: Reuven Israel displays his new sculptures at Shulamit Nazarian

There’s something that doesn’t quite add up in Reuven Israel’s work. Stepping around his new sculptures – now showing at Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, it’s as if you’ve seen them somewhere before. The works look back at you almost as inquiringly as you try to figure them out.
The Jerusalem-born, long-time Brooklyn-dwelling Israel has looked to many different areas for inspiration for his first solo appearance in the city, such as, 'various forms of spacecrafts, antennas, and ritualised structures and objects of the past – temples, pottery, instruments and weapons.' It’s not the form of those things that is recognisable in the work, though. 'Often, when I work on sculptures I’m not thinking of specific places, objects, or events, but rather their implied cultural meanings,' the artist explains, as he unveiled the exhibition, titled 'As Above, So Below'.
To get too much into his specific references would spoil the fun, but he does reveal that Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1971 sci-fi novel, Roadside Picnic, an account of events after a visit by extraterrestrials that is only discovered thanks to the objects they left behind, was on his mind. 'I like for my sculptures to be encountered as autonomous objects, without being linked to a known source. I want them to hint to a utilitarian function, but one that is not specific or decoded,' Israel says. It explains the eerie familiarity his works have. 'Like the objects left by the aliens, with my sculptures the viewer is left to "reverse engineer" the object's implied purpose through form and geometry, all while its unhinged from a specific context.'
This is reflected in the way his sculptures are made, too. Though their polished surfaces appear to be industrially fabricated, with their mass-produced precision, they are in fact totally built by hand, using MDF that Israel cuts, glues, sands and shapes, before embarking on a process of coating with different layers of paints and lacquer, until he achieves their deceptive glossy finish. 'This creates a near perfect surface, which imitates the look of plastic, metal or porcelain.' When his labour intensive process is done, Israel looks forward to standing back and watching the audience react as they try to unravel what’s in front of them – much like the scientists before the alien ephemera in the Strugatskys’ book. 'I want the physicality of the individual pieces to deceive the viewer,' says Israel.
Israel has looked to many different areas for inspiration for his first solo appearance in the city, such as, 'various forms of spacecrafts, antennas, and ritualised structures and objects of the past – temples, pottery, instruments and weapons.' Pictured: At First Blush and Green
Israel revealed that Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1971 sci-fi novel, Roadside Picnic, an account of events after a visit by extraterrestrials that is only discovered thanks to the objects they left behind, was on his mind. Pictured: Installation view
'Like the objects left by the aliens, with my sculptures the viewer is left to "reverse engineer" the object's implied purpose through form and geometry, all while its unhinged from a specific context,' says Israel. Pictured: White Collar
Israel's sculptures are in fact totally built by hand, using MDF that Israel cuts, glues, sands and shapes, before embarking on a process of coating with different layers of paints and lacquer, until he achieves their deceptive glossy finish. Pictured: Group and Red Neck
'I want the physicality of the individual pieces to deceive the viewer,' says Israel. Pictured: Black and Blue (left) and Blackout (right)
INFORMATION
'As Above, So Below' is on view until 28 October. For more information, visit the Shulamit Nazarian website
ADDRESS
17 N Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
The artistry of Japanese wine
Fine wine from Japan may not yet register highly on the radars of most oenophiles, but for those who know, it's a hugely rewarding and rich tapestry of flavour. Drinks expert, Neil Ridley visits London's Luna Omakase for the launch of a new dedicated Japanese wine pairing menu
-
In Los Angeles, Darling doesn’t want to be your average dinner spot
Vinyl, live-fire cooking, and California’s finest ingredients come together in this immersive new concept from a celebrated Southern chef
-
'There is no way light and darkness are not in exchange with each other': step inside Christelle Oyiri’s sonic world in Berlin
In an explosion of light and sound, Christelle Oyiri explores celebrity, mythology and religion inside CANK, a former brutalist shopping centre in Berlin’s Neukölln
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work
‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’
He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Richard Prince recontextualises archival advertisements in Texas
The artist unites his ‘Posters’ – based on ads for everything from cat pictures to nudes – at Hetzler, Marfa
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Another week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San Francisco
The artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
-
Orlando Museum of Art wants to showcase more Latin American and Hispanic artists. Do you fit the bill?
The Florida gallery calls for for Hispanic and Latin American artists to submit their work for an ongoing exhibition
-
The spread of Butter: the Black-owned art fair where artists see all the profits
The Indianapolis-based art fair is known for bringing Black art to the forefront. As it ventures out of state to make its Los Angeles debut, we speak with founders Mali and Alan Bacon to find out more
-
Steve Martin wants you to visit The Frick Collection
The actor has appeared in a video promoting New York’s newly renovated art museum