Yaacov (Gibstein) Agam

Multicolor Kinetic Op Art Lithograph by Israeli Artist Yaacov Agam

1974

In the infinitely complex world of contemporary art, many works serve as vehicles for thought, postural statements, and emotion. Such is the case with SHAO QI, a renowned Chinese artist who skillfully blends the political, cultural, and aesthetic in her lithographic work entitled "I am a Ninja." This piece, limited to thirty copies, numbered 21/30 in pencil and dated 2011, is a perfect example of how cross-influences can be integrated and cultural barriers broken down. Historically, ninjas were inferior warriors in feudal Japan, often recruited by samurai and governments to serve as spies. Their mysteriousness has allowed them to infiltrate contemporary popular culture, so much so that their ubiquity eventually transcends borders, internationalizing the ninja and rendering its Japanese origin a simple detail, among others, in public perception, a component of a character that has become universal. Pop art, an artistic movement of the second half of the 20th century, is known for its appropriation and subversion of consumer products and cultural icons. By hijacking elements of mass culture, pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein transformed the perception of art and its eligible subjects. The use of a ninja silhouette in "I Am a Ninja" follows this tradition, exploiting a popular symbol to reimagine it. The dynamic interplay of colors, in particular the aesthetic power of red and black, is essential. Red's radiant luminescence contrasts sharply with black's ultimate absorption, framing the work in a colorimetric face-off reminiscent of the propaganda posters of yesteryear. Red, the color of revolution, power, passion, and vitality, blends with black, shadow, and emptiness. The bold black lines that delineate the figure are reminiscent of Shepard Fairey's work under the OBEY signature. These lines convey a vibrant, primitive force akin to Russian Constructivist posters...

This vintage poster from 1984, designed by doll historians Stéphanie Farago and Bob Dennison, features seven Lenci dolls in a setting related to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The image plays on mimicry: dolls imitating children, children dressed as adults, and adults observing them. These iconic dolls, made of pressed felt by the Lenci company in the early 20th century, are dressed in adult sports attire: boxing gloves, jockeys, golfers' uniforms, riding jackets, and fencing gear. Their gaze is turned sideways, not toward each other or the viewer, but offstage. This sidelong glance, detached and unreadable, is the hallmark of Lenci's design and one of its earliest formal signatures. Dressed for adult games, but motionless, they do not play—they pose, returning to their status as objects. The poster unsettles by staging this discrepancy between the theatricality of adult roles and the inert form of the doll. What should remain two-dimensional takes on unexpected volume, as if the viewer were reanimating a fragment of childhood. The image, likely tied to Farago and Dennison’s 1986 publication "The Magic Romance of Art Dolls", presents the quintessential Lenci figure...