In the exhibition Lilith and Adam, Guy Levy presents large-scale expressive paintings depicting figures in dramatic compositions. The man, Adam, symbolizes the Mizrahi "ars," controlled by the demonic, seductive "Ashkenazi" woman depicted as Lilith.

Lilith is a demon, the first woman created in the biblical story not from Adam's rib but from the earth, a being equal to Adam, separate and independent. This figure draws the artist into her chaotic, threatening and mad world.

As he works, the artist discovers that Lilith becomes the main story in his works. She is the one who creates the painting itself and performs dark rites within it, possessing hypnotic, seductive powers. The man surrenders in this struggle. He is depicted as submissive, allowing himself to be controlled.

In the artist's work, Lilith is presented as a thesis for his own love story, taking him back to his first relationship, which was cut short by ethnic discrimination and left its mark on his heart. In the act of making art, the artist is as if treating black magic against the "dybbuk," embodied in himself, who is unworthy and should be expelled lest he return.

Through Lilith's story, the artist's experiences are released onto the canvas as an allegory of contemporary Israeli society, a society that rejected him from those social circles. Yet the artist takes his revenge in painting, engaging in an experience of protest, as if "vomiting" back onto society. In the act of painting, it is the artist who is in control.

Guy's paintings are powerful, with free use of brush and color. Their distorted, expressive figures convey a mysterious, chaotic story illuminated by "spotlights," as though the artist were facing torture and interrogation, reinforcing the drama and mystery. His expressive painting also echoes German Expressionist painting of the 1930s, which, ironically, the artist adopts, adding another layer to the struggle of the individual in a society full of hardship.

Self-image is also expressed through depictions of singing, dancing and music, presented by the artist through a subversive gaze. In Oriental Music, Guy presents Arabic music through the eyes of a Western viewer: the Orientalist, condescending gaze. Yet the gaze is reversed and subversive. No longer "Song of the Valley," but singing with authentic Arabic accompaniment and dance. Lilith changes her face and "settles down," merging into the local space, as befits its local, Middle Eastern culture. Meanwhile, the "ars" man takes his natural place, no longer controlled, and establishes his song-art within the local art scene.

The struggle between man and woman, Adam and Lilith, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi, the controlling and the controlled, with an inner restlessness and in a very authentic way, all express that the artist's act of painting is, in fact, magic itself. It is a kind of ritual through which he sets out on a new path in search of his Mizrahi roots as a native of this land. His paintings reflect the search for his identity and his place as a Mizrahi in Israel.

Aviva Shay Nahum

Curator