Meno Eytan

Immersed in a continuous experiment of colour and form, Meno Eytan produces carefully choreographed compositions filled with movement and rhythm. These abstract configurations have a fundamental geometrical quality that oscillates from extremely clean and minimalistic amalgamations of a few colours, to intricate landscapes populated by a myriad of colours and shapes.

The work of Meno Eytan manifests a profound fascination and interest in colour and in the endless possibilities it offers. The artist’s experiments with colour are grounded in an interest in its purity. When one is confronted with his paintings, their most evident and striking quality is the presence of countless hues and tones, which suggest a long and intricate process of colour manipulation. Meno’s studio is, however, filled with an innumerable amount of oil and acrylic paint tubes that act as pathways to his palette and, without previous mixing or alteration, are taken directly onto the canvas. Only then do we understand the importance of colour purity in his oeuvre as a whole. Eytan does not feel compelled to blend primary colours to create new ones; instead, his interest lies in the unusual pairing of colours to reveal the endless possibilities that this creates in terms of composition and, ultimately, in the viewer’s perception of the work. Upon closer inspection, one realises Meno’s remarkable ability in bringing together countless colours while successfully defying traditional colour theory. The result is a field of coloured shapes which dance on the surface of the canvas, interacting and transforming each other.

The artist’s commitment to the purity of colour is mirrored in the formal elements of his compositions, as he appeals to basic geometric forms to construct sophisticated and stimulating abstract paintings. Squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, rhombuses, parallelograms inhabit his canvases, creating sophisticated arrangements that challenge conventional notions of geometric abstraction.

Eytan’s distinctive vertical stripes and horizontal planes — presenting themselves in different widths, lengths and colours — create a vibrant chromatic sequence which allures and challenges the viewer’s perception. This composition has a constant and pivotal presence in Eytan’s oeuvre, and he continues to defy recurring possibilities with eloquent tricks that create a sense of disruption to the rhythm of the composition: painting lines that hop against a monochromatic background, introducing a new geometrical form in the sequence, presenting text, curling and waving lines, or incorporating metallic or neon colours with darker tones. Some of these paintings have reached a monumental scale, transporting the viewer to a landscape of colour and engaging them in a sensorial experience.

Eytan’s notable sequences of geometric abstractions have evolved meaningfully, giving birth to paintings which are significantly different in composition but maintain the essence of the artist’s philosophy. In recent years some of Meno’s paintings have grown tremendously in complexity, becoming enigmatic labyrinths of forms and colour. Day One is a magnificent example of how, departing from the most basic geometric forms and using a vivid palette of endless possibilities, Meno constructs an enchanting maze bursting with energy, movement and depth. In These and Those, S. Y. Agnon he seems to appropriate some of his previous paintings and puzzle them together, as if taking former experiments with colour and form to a higher level of complexity. Take Me Under Your Wing, H. N. Bialik illustrates an ever-changing pattern that presents the viewer with a riddle impossible to solve. The characters Meno constructs using colour and line suggest letters and evoke a language or code that the viewer cannot decipher — reminiscent of Rubik’s cubes, kaleidoscopes, puzzles, brainteasers and riddles, unveiling the artist’s passion for mind games such as Sudoku, backgammon, and reading.

The study of colour has been a longstanding matter in the history of art, and the work of Meno Eytan appears to reference figures of paramount importance: the colour compositions of Piet Mondrian and Josef Albers, the blurry clouds of Mark Rothko, the concentric squares of Frank Stella, the vibrancy of Carlos Cruz-Diez’s progressive patterns, the ‘zips’ of Barnett Newman, and the formal simplicity of Carmen Herrera. However, Meno has found a unique visual language driven by a quest to explore the possibilities of colour and arrangement from their purest form. His paintings, from the simplest compositions to the most elaborate configurations, testify to the artist’s ability to exhaust the possibilities of colour and form, whilst maintaining and manifesting his singular vision and style.