Klibansky's work reflects the today’s world, or rather: tomorrow's world. Inspired by technology, fashion, design, architecture, travel and music his work gives shape to a world that balances utopia with nightmare. His paintings, collages, prints and sculptures are dynamic, colourful and imaginative, with a nod to the surrealists here and there. ‘Leap of Faith’, from 28 January to 14 May 2017 in De Fundatie, is Klibansky's first solo exhibition in a museum in the Netherlands and provides an excellent overview of his burgeoning yet already impressive oeuvre. In the sculpture garden of Kasteel het Nijenhuis, Klibansky’s colossal Self-Portrait of a Dreamer is on display, which last year stole the show at the Lowlands music festival in Biddinghuizen.
"Leap of Faith", on view from 28 januari 2017 – 14 mei 2017
Iconic figures
‘Leap of Faith’ includes two and three dimensional works. All types of motifs are combined in Klibansky's digital paintings. The collages of many hundreds of photographs are worked in both traditional and modern methods, portraying colourful fantasy worlds and fairytale-like cityscapes. The images have a narrative structure. The image at first sight can be overwhelming, however the details are slowly revealed. Included among the works in Zwolle is New Urban Wonderland; a series of city portraits the artist has been working on since 2006. Some new works on canvas show iconic figures from familiar cartoons and fairy tales, arranged in a linear manga style. There is a strong correlation between the paintings and the sculptures, which bear titles such as Reflections of Truth 1 and 2 (Pinocchio), Velvet Revolution (Statue of Liberty), Equilibrio Iconico (Miffy), and Reflections of Youth (Bambi). These and other works can be considered as post-conceptual, enriched with a strong visual aesthetic and a sense of irony. A video about Big Bang, Klibansky’s sculpture of a grumpy gorilla in a party hat, was especially made for the Zwolle exhibition.