Sasha Okun > Critics

Okun's multi-layered technique expresses truthfully the heavy weight of his themes. Contrary to the classical nude of Ingres, Rubens or Greek sculpture, Okun's nude is not perfected, smooth or inviting. It's destorted, scratched, damaged. In spite of Okun's claims to Renaissance influences (present in the postures and technique), the figures in his paintings remind of Lucien Freud or Francis Bacon. The bodies are stout plump, material. The body as flesh and sanctuary of the secular... Okun is a real diamond.
Gilad Meltzer, "Ediot Ahronot"
Okun presents a serious of portraits which might have been based on specific characters, but they become archetypal: Woman, Man, Baby. His paintngs are of single figures,always tortured and scorned at by his merciless brush. At the closing of a century mat brought to life the most horrific representations of the human body (from Picasso, through Francis Bacon and up to Maliew Barney) one can hardly call Okun a radical, but he certainly manages to instill in the viewer a sense of discomfort. This discomfort is a result of double mearung.On the one hand, Okun lays his figures on a background reminiscent of a dry and slightly crumbling mural, the kind of setting that winks at the viewer,promising him an encounter with a familiar and secure past (in some of his paintings thre Is an absolutely conscious reference, or so it seems, to Renaissance painters like Mantegna: such a painting is "Andy M.," which relates to Mantegna's "Lying Jesus" though, Okun's images themselves are almost as pathetic as Hanocfa Levin's characters: large droopy figures, caught inside their own flesh, both aware and in denial of their screaming ugliness. And since clearly unflattering depictions of male figures are quite scarce these days,Okun"s male portraits turn out to be very conspicuous. "Man Taking Off Underpants" or "Man Lying" are bitter and penetrating portraits. Setting his work against Lucian Freud's male nudes (especially his nude series from the late Eighties and early Nineties), emphasizes just how much Okun dwarfs and ridicules his large figures, which come through as pathetically and clumsily naked. In the work of an artist we can witness a game of estrangement from and attraction to the local art scene. Okun has been working here for over 20 years now, and his paining is very different from what we generally see in IsraeLHowever, his affinity to Yosef Hirsh (one of the older and more respected Israeli artists), especially in terms of drawing, is obvious. ...This exhibition gives us a good opportunity to explore artistic enterprises which are for the most part interesting, especially the paintings of Okun, which should be taken as one further engaging facet of the figurative revival in Israeli painting.
Smadar Shcffi, "Ha'aretz"

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		Okun's multi-layered technique expresses truthfully the heavy weight of his themes. Contrary to the classical nude of Ingres, Rubens or Greek sculpture, Okun's nude is not perfected, smooth or inviting. It's destorted, scratched, damaged. In spite of Okun's claims to Renaissance influences (present in the postures and technique), the figures in his paintings remind of Lucien Freud or Francis Bacon. The bodies are stout plump, material. The body as flesh and sanctuary of the secular... Okun is a real diamond. Gilad Meltzer, "Ediot Ahronot" Okun presents a serious of portraits which might have been based on specific characters, but they become archetypal: Woman, Man, Baby. His paintngs are of single figures,always tortured and scorned at by his merciless brush. At the closing of a century mat brought to life the most horrific representations of the human body (from Picasso, through Francis Bacon and up to Maliew Barney) one can hardly call Okun a radical, but he certainly manages to instill in the viewer a sense of discomfort. This discomfort is a result of double mearung.On the one hand, Okun lays his figures on a background reminiscent of a dry and slightly crumbling mural, the kind of setting that winks at the viewer,promising him an encounter with a familiar and secure past (in some of his paintings thre Is an absolutely conscious reference, or so it seems, to Renaissance painters like Mantegna: such a painting is "Andy M.," which relates to Mantegna's "Lying Jesus" though, Okun's images themselves are almost as pathetic as Hanocfa Levin's characters: large droopy figures, caught inside their own flesh, both aware and in denial of their screaming ugliness. And since clearly unflattering depictions of male figures are quite scarce these days,Okun"s male portraits turn out to be very conspicuous. "Man Taking Off Underpants" or "Man Lying" are bitter and penetrating portraits. Setting his work against Lucian Freud's male nudes (especially his nude series from the late Eighties and early Nineties), emphasizes just how much Okun dwarfs and ridicules his large figures, which come through as pathetically and clumsily naked. In the work of an artist we can witness a game of estrangement from and attraction to the local art scene. Okun has been working here for over 20 years now, and his paining is very different from what we generally see in IsraeLHowever, his affinity to Yosef Hirsh (one of the older and more respected Israeli artists), especially in terms of drawing, is obvious. ...This exhibition gives us a good opportunity to explore artistic enterprises which are for the most part interesting, especially the paintings of Okun, which should be taken as one further engaging facet of the figurative revival in Israeli painting. Smadar Shcffi, "Ha'aretz" 1982 \| 1985 \| 1986 \| 1988 \| 1989 \| 1990 \| 1991 \| 1992 \| 1993 \| 1994 \| 1998 \| 1999 \| 2006 \| 2008