“More or Less”, an accurate quantitative assessment or a laissez-faire rough approximation? The major part of this painting consists of a large still life composition uniquely presented by Bak with almost every item broken or damaged, partially repaired, needing support, and/or wrapped in cloth (shroud) and resting on a chipped tabletop. Three bigger pears are shown as (1) partially eaten or (2) sliced vertically and held upright by a rigid strip fastened to an adjacent bottle or (3) sliced horizontally and supporting a shroud-wrapped bottle. Additionally, there is one whole (healthy?) though quite diminutive pear, located behind a minuscule fallen chalice, and might be the only metaphoric sign of hope.
Behind the table and composing the center background are two human figures each holding a large sign. One sign has a green “+” while the other sign displays a red “-“. These are literal visual references to “more or less” in a quantitative fashion, although the red coloration in the prone minus sign carries implications for death, as well as subtraction. As there seems to be nothing available for adding, we might also view the plus sign as rotating towards an “X” which would be another loss. Certainly, the two smokestacks in the deep background would allude to such fatality.
The two large bottles on the table have subtle sex-assigning indicators which might allow them to be considered a couple. As the male component is wrapped in a red shroud and is closest to the negative sign, it may represent Bak’s father who was murdered during the Holocaust. Bak (the tiny pear) and his mother (the relatively intact bottle) survived by a series of miraculous circumstances.
There is an interesting small human figure in the background to the right of the table. He has his back to the central magnum opus and appears to be disconnected, reading a newspaper, and unaware of the distal smoke. He might be the unengaged bystander who only understands or cares “more or less” about the events surrounding him.
Bak’s presentation of a decimated still-life scene allegorically depicts destruction of the culture responsible for creating its contents. This painting seems a personal statement of loss by Bak, emphasizing that the killing of one individual, many in a family, or multitudes in a community quantitatively leaves more dead and less alive, an undisputed tragedy.
Dr. Carl M. Herbert (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, December 05, 2023
-------------------------------
More or Less. Plus or Minus. Pachot Yotear.
The three bottles of the Still Life could represent the trinity.
They anchor this Unstill Life.
Life interrupted. A bitten pear, a fragmented goblet or Kiddush cup.
Three cups or containers arranged on the bizarre stone altar.
The three figures as shy presences.
The background chimneys remind us once again the historical context of destruction and death.
Sadly, no different than today in Ukraine.
Contribute
You are in possession of valuable information about this artwork and want it published on the website in the catalogue raisonné?
Please write to us:
.jpg)
Contribute
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest