Noga Shatz is a London-based multidisciplinary artist specializing in painting and printmaking. She obtained her MFA degree with distinction from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London 2015, and her BA from HaMidrasha – Faculty of the Arts, Israel 2007. Shatz explores tensions between the defined image and abstraction. Key images in her work such as; a heart shape symbol, a hooded figure, a tangled forest, are being researched and then re-produced repeatedly in relation to their cultural heritage and origin. She relates to the images in her paintings as bodies in a state of conflict, a conflict articulated within the works through struggles between movement and stillness, depth and flatness, an image and its ruins.
Shatz’s recent body of work, created over the last year and a half throughout the pandemic, is composed of large-scale paintings constructed of individual panels. Each panel is a stand-alone piece, as well as a fragment of a bigger image. The paintings are designed to be modular – with many different options to edit and recompose the same piece. The works correspond with popular digital platforms exploring the effect that they have on our physical experience and perception of depth, light, and colour. The use of the square format is drawn out of the Instagram App. The extreme colour palette corresponds with virtual platforms, where each image we see on a screen, or upload ourselves, is enhanced, and Saturated.
Noga Shatz has been exhibiting her work in various solo and group shows in England, Israel, and Germany. Selected exhibitions include;
RA Summer Exhibition, London, UK, 2014| The Epoch of Space, Part of cluster exhibitions ‘Changing Perspectives, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel 2015| The 6th Drawing Biennale, Artists House, Jerusalem, Israel 2016 | Artist Proof, Neo Gallery, Bolton, UK, 2017 | Wells Art Contemporary, Wells, UK, 2018 | Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, London, UK, 2019 | Foreign Subject, solo show, Artworks Project Space, Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, UK, 2019| Tipolet, Duo show and collaborative project, Binyamin Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2020 | Wobble, solo show, Maya Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2021
She has been awarded the Anthony Dawson Print Award, the Slade School of Fine Art Printmaking Scholarship, the Slade School of Fine Art- Summer School Residency Award, Slade Annual Group Project Award, Max Werner Drawing Prize (nomination), Neo Gallery Print Project Award, Highly Commended Artist at Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts- Exhibition Support Grant, and the Art Council England Grant.
Self-taught or art school?
I have an MA degree in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, and a BA from HaMidrasha – Faculty of the Arts. Each Degree gave me an opportunity to exhale, to connect with my peers, to learn new techniques, and to open up new possibilities to push my practice forward. However, in part, I still feel like a self-taught artist.
When I started to create art in my early teens, I remember feeling a strong force of attraction to painting. I used to draw and paint for days on end, trying to learn new things, trying to get better at it, without any specific goal, without knowing what will come next.
I think that this period of time, spending hours alone painting in a very intimate setting- my bedroom, gave me a strong base, and the ability to understand how to engage with an artistic process and how to self-progress. In retrospect, I think that these were my formative years as an artist.
If you could own one work of art, what would it be?
There are many artworks that I would like to own. If I had to pick one now, I would choose Frida Kahlo’s; Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. A lot has been written about her suffering with regards to this particular painting, when I look at it, I see bravery-such a powerful piece of work.
How would you describe your style?
A mash-up between expressive, abstract, and figurative art with references to surrealism, and outsider art.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
My process is a layered, practice-based, informed by research, and at times meditative.
I try to keep an open channel of dialogue between my personal experiences of everyday life and what I create in the studio.
When I start to work on a new body of work, I allow myself to take time for experimentation: sketching or pouring out colours and ideas on papers, mainly working with ink, mono-print, pencils, and watercolours.
Through this non-filtered process, repeated and re-occurring images appear. For example; a hooded figure, a heart-shaped symbol, a tangled forest. I will then explore these images and re-produce them in relation to their cultural heritage and origin. I like to examine how the qualities of the mediums I work with, affect the subject matter. So, for example, I would create the hooded figure using different techniques and try to feel the changes that occur each time. This will lead to a more framed process when I plan, to a point, what I would like to achieve. It is always better when ‘the plan’ shifts and evolve.
Is narrative important within your work?
I am interested in fragments of narratives rather than depicting a whole coherent story. I live in a fragmented environment that constantly contains many stories at the same time.
In my work, I want to create fragments that are simultaneously cut off and stand on their own merits, like a distorted single ruin that can hold the whole story which was once upon a time around her.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
When I was 15 years old, my favourite artist was Edvard Munch- I adored his work. In fact, I had a book of his prints which I used to carry around with me. I was intrigued by his work to such a degree that I faked my dad’s signature and got myself a little tattoo of a fragment lifted from one of his dry-point drawings; Death and the Maiden, created in Berlin, 1894. No regrets.
These days I find that the artists that I favour and am influenced by are changing every couple of months. Whether I’m getting excited about a new contemporary artist or if I go back to an old master, I find that it is linked to, and echo’s something that I’m dealing with or a quality that I’m looking for within my own work which is still missing.
So, because it is such a long list, I’ll mention a few names that come to my mind while I’m writing. In no particular order; Marlene Dumas, Artemisia Gentileschi, Francisco Goya, Cecily Brown, William Blake, Henri Rousseau, George Condo, Michael Armitage, Daniel Richter, Dana Schutz, Philip Guston, Mary Reid Kelley.
What or who inspires your art?
There is no hierarchy with regards to what or who inspires me. I’m inspired by films, music, other artists talking about their work, by something I see on the street, online chatter, or overhearing a conversation on the bus. I can be inspired by something I see on a TV series-yes even the trashy ones.
I think that in moments of inspiration I feel very attuned and connected to the source of my own creativity and this focus enhances my ability to experience the world around me.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio is at Blackhorse Lane Studios, which is part of the Barbican Arts Group Trust in London. It is a very nice environment to create in.
Do you have any studio rituals?
I have a few repetitive activities; I am not sure if they can be considered rituals;
I drink coffee before I start.
I take a long afternoon walk with my dog Louie.
Another repetitive thing I tend to do is procrastinate; when I don’t have a clear idea of what I want to do, I pretend to do something useful such as organizing the studio or preparing materials, but really, I’m just waiting for my energy to focus before I start painting.
What are you working on currently?
My work is currently large-scale paintings constructed of several individual panels. Each panel is a stand-alone piece, as well as a fragment of a bigger image. The painting is designed to be modular – with many different ways of editing and recomposing the same piece. I started to work on this project just after the first lockdown. These works are linked to my experiences of isolation, separation, and relying on digital communication.
They correspond with popular digital platforms and the effect that they have on our physical experience and perception of depth, light, and colour. The use of the square format was drawn out of the Instagram App. The extreme colour palette is also taken from the virtual world where each image we see or upload, is enhanced, and Saturated. I’m also working on a new diptych painting, which will be displayed as part of the next group exhibition of ‘The Tunnel’ at Hundred Years Gallery, London in September.
Where can we buy your art?
You can buy my art directly through me; either via email (link on my website) or DM my Instagram @noga_shatz_
Some paintings are available to purchase through Maya Gallery TLV, and Har-El Gallery
You can view more works on my website; https://www.nogashatz.com/
