The photos of Eran Ben-Baruch Gottesman portray an anigmatic and dichotomic presence.
The internal contrast between The cheerful girls skipping rope - deliberately positioned on the background of harsh urban settings sprayed with the most aggressive graffiti – create the "Drama" of his series of works.
The ulta-orthodox young and care-free girls represent a world of inocence and joy within unquestioned structure and borders. In Contrast we are are surrounded by the hint of a Urban Jungle whose graffiti riddeled walls represenst the broken world of out-siders, their search and rebellion, a world of suffering and pain.
The photographic works of Eran Ben-Baruch Gottesman play’s on the clash between two worlds co-existing simultaneously, up against one another, within a thinly defined border. A place in time and space that both worlds, “Cruelty and raw pain” and “Pure innocense” radically different in spirit and essence, touch one another.
The title of this series reffers to the works of the French Artist Henri Matisse. Clearly influenced by the great pain and suffereing of the two world wars of the 20th century, created a series of works in the spirit of Joei de Vivre – the Joy of life. When pain and suffering are too enourmous to handle, the artist hints to the gift of “freedom of choice” which permits one to delibiratly focus on the sweetness and pleasantness of "joy".
The photographer Eran Ben-Baruch Gottesman challenges the veiwer to make his own choice – between purity and brutality, beauty and pain – both existing together – the anigma and the choice is on what what we choose to reflect upon.

Nurit Sirkis Bank
Curator