If you haven’t yet seen Zadok Ben David’s exhibition, Blackfield, at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, you should run right now to see it before it closes on May 16th.  It is one of those rare shows that simply blows you away on a visceral level.  The installation in the main gallery is comprised of over 12,000 photo-etched plants in steel complete with fabricated shadows.  

The designs are inspired by Victorian botanical illustrations and they are dainty and whimsical up-close but pack a visual and emotional punch when viewed en masse, symbolizing despair when viewed on the black side which turns into hope as the viewer circles the installation and the flowers reveal their bright and cheery colorful side.  Be sure to crouch down and walk all the way around the installation in the main gallery or you will miss out on the full impact.  

The Los Angeles Times didn’t enjoy the smaller-scale works in the side gallery, claiming that though “the same technical methods are at play, the effects are radically diminished.”  I liked the smaller-scale versions – the mirror and box create a delightful wunderkammer sort of effect that I would argue creates a different meaning entirely than what Ben David achieves in the main gallery.  

Learn more from ArtsEtoile contributor Laura Gatewood’s fabulous review of the show in the Los Angeles Examiner.