Escapia

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In the series "Escapia", de Lange passes from engaging in times past (as in the series: "Talks I had with Max and Uncle P." and "The Visit") to the present, and from that which is far to the near. On large canvases, he intensifies images that seem very familiar to us, as if describing the "next door neighbor's" house. Figures seated around a table in their small garden, adjacent to their garage that boasts a shiny jeep displayed to the street; the jeep adorned with glistering "golden- silver" chromes – a show off of class

and financial power. This is a typical Israeli home, with its "security-room" escape window visible on its front façade.

Reflections dart about the composition: in the dazzling metal strips of the vehicle, in the windows and in the goldfish pond that serves as a metaphor for imagined wishes. A hint of an airplane is seen in the sky symbolizing a potential escape. The artist is inspecting his immediate surroundings, maybe even himself. Is he, too, living in a bubble? Are we all running from reality to escapist insights that seem like ideal catharsis?    

 

Anat Gatenio  - January 2005