The Herd
1995-1999Ulrich Schneider
Alongside his creations as a sculptor, Menashe Kadishman has also been working with equal intensity as a painter since the late seventies, without drawing distinctions between the two. Again, the "sheep" and the "flock" are the metaphor of life. In the last four years, Kadishman has thrown himself with almost manic energy into creating a cycle of sheep heads, of sheep portraits, if you like, around a thousand individual paintings. His canvases, all of eighty by sixty centimeters, are stretched over frames and painted with oil and acrylic colors, before collages of solid objects such as brushes, color tubes and everyday tools are added. Drawings have also recently found their way into these paintings, at times with added scenes of sacrifice.
These paintings are not exhibited conventionally. By nailing a pair of wooden squares on the lower frame, the paintings become independent and the flock can move freely. Just like Shalechet the Flock installation is something you have to experience for yourself. Although each individual painting can be described as the portrait of an animal, with a variety that ranges from the strongly colored to the starkly monochromatic, from naturalism to abstraction, the observer can only really experience the Flock by stepping into it. That's when you feel the presence of the animals: some of them are afraid; others aggressive; some shrink away, others approach curiously.
Observed as a whole, the paintings look like flowers in a field. Passing through them, you feel perplexed by the versos of the canvases. Like gravestones scattered across an irregular cemetery, the limestone-colored surfaces look back at you; a dire reminder, an allusion to the end, follows close on the heels of the vision of the blossoming flowers.
In 'I996, Menashe Kadishman installed the Flock in a meadow near Ben-Shemen and left it. Buffeted around by the wind, it looked as though some animals were lying down, others grazing. Some paintings toppled over, giving the impression of fallen gravestones. Menashe Kadishman then installed Flock in a small graveyard in Israel, leaning the paintings against real gravestones, standing them on the graves. The place, was imbued with a sad peacefulness.