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Hava Mehutan
(b. 1925). Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mehutan immigrated to Israel in 1946 and settled in Beersheba some years later. She sculpted in stone and olive wood—figures of women, most of them pregnant, heads and animals. In 1958, together with Louise Schatz (b. 1916), Ruth Zarfati and Lea Nikel, she participated in the Twelve Artists exhibition, which was described by its curator, Yona Fischer, as “the pick of the young generation.” In the 1960s she worked on the “Processions” series, in which she used different arrangements of vertical logs of wood positioned in such a way as to create associations with different human situations. But although she chose to sculpt many figures of pregnant women, and many critics saw in her works a reflection of a feminine cycle of life and fertility, her sculpture was considered quite masculine, almost without any external pleasantness. A woman art critic noted that Mehutan’s mode of expression contained nothing of the soft femininity that she found characteristic of other women artists. It is interesting that a woman critic employed stereotypes of femininity and masculinity and complimented Mehutan for the “masculine” qualities in her work. Mehutan herself claims that female identity engages her a great deal and appears in her works, at times consciously and at times unconsciously. Her work is always personal, subjective, emotional, and stems from her being a woman.
During the time she lived in the Negev, from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, Mehutan gradually shifted from sculpture that deals with the human body to sculpture that expresses expanses and forces of nature, as an artist involved in environmental issues. In the “Landscapes” series, which she began at the height of the Yom Kippur War, she continued to develop this approach, but this time she expressed the mood in the country with the aid of the motif of the tear or the rip. In the 1980s she moved to Jerusalem—a city bustling with political and religious activity and conflicts, which brought her feelings of extinction and impasse. These feelings grew stronger following the Lebanon War and found expression in works such as the installations that she called Situations. In Situation 88, for example, visitors had to climb onto a bridge in order to enter the exhibition and passed over “corpses” made of logs of wood. In the Beds installation she placed logs of wood that looked like corpses on iron beds.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s , with the developments of the times, Mehutan enlarged upon her connection with her country in her work in the form of large installations and projects that dealt with the Israeli situation vis-a-vis her neighbors. As their attacks became more violent, killing and maiming innocent civilians, she was drawn to vent her feelings in her artwork. For example, in 1984, invited to a meeting of sculptors in Har Sdom, she dug 50 rectangular forms arranged in several rows, putting the excavated earth into sacks and placing each sack beside its excavation. Another installation, called “Bed Work” was exhibited in the Jerusalem Artists’ Gallery. This consisted of 9 old hospital beds; on each one a large log representing a human body. On a wall close by was a screaming head. On the wall opposite thee was a line of gouache paintings called “Falling Figures”. In a side room there were live cypress trees on the floor and around the walls large pastel paintings on paper of trees: her intention was to give some hope for the future despite the sadness of the installation. In 1989 an installation at the Herzlia Museum , the main work was a perforated metal “Bridge” with 3 steps on either side. To see the rest of the exhibition it was necessary to cross the bridge where one could see wood torsos beneath. There were 3 (4?) black neoprene reliefs on the wall with small white figures walking, running or crawling, but of course they couldn’t get out. Another group in two opposing lines consisted of 5 metal heads / torsos with eyes but lacking mouths. Opposite was a line of figures of 6 similar heads/torsos in cloth-soaked plaster with mouths but no eyes. Between them there was a barrel of logs, of the sort used then at barriers, painted in colors of fire.
During the 1990’s Mehutan concentrated on figures, first in plaster, then in bronze. In an exhibit called “Figures”, these were displayed together with oil paintings she had done that related to the subject.
The Middle Ages always fascinated Mehutan and in a determined effort to somehow move away from the sadness of the works she had been doing, she traveled to see buildings, paintings, furniture, and gardens of the period and read a great deal of history. The subject engrossed her for several years resulting in sculptures, paintings, drawings, embroidery in large and small works and materials.
As Israel’s neighbors became ever more antagonistic Mehutan’s understanding of the situation changed; she despaired of any progress toward peace. Her work became more desperate, more violent during the years of 2000. “Shattered Bridge” is just that, an 8 meter long shattered bridge with piles of white oak branches in forms that are reminiscent
of human bodies, under the bridge and a few on top of the bridge. Another work consists of 5 standing old railroad ties almost 3 meters high, with horizontal pointed war-like forms positioned in confrontation one with the other. There are chains around the figures ending in a red padlock drawing the forms together. Other sculptures in similar vein give expression to her feelings of despair.
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