Aaron April’s oil and acrylic paintings underwent a profound transformation following his emigration to Israel in 1972. While his earlier Soviet works included powerful realist pieces like “Execution” (1961), which bravely confronted the realities of the Soviet Gulag and established him as a courageous painter, his later “Israeli” period exploded with multicolored, energetic, and passionate canvases.
A central tenet of his artistic vision in Israel was his intense engagement with light, particularly the unique and often “cruel” light of Jerusalem. April famously declared his goal was to “win this contest with the light,” tirelessly striving to capture or embody this elusive illumination within his canvases. His palette from this era is described as vigorous and comprehensive, capable of conveying a “violence of color” where hues seemingly “fight each other or embrace each other,” utterly captivating the viewer.
April’s oil paintings are often multi-meaningful, multifaceted, and fantastical, actively inviting the viewer to discover layers of interpretation. His style frequently blends figurative and abstract elements, with images often emerging from seemingly chaotic or pulsating colorful strokes. A key concept in his later work is the use of “memory stains”—brush strokes that function as self-contained vessels of light and space, mirroring the fragmented nature of memory. He reinterpreted Symbolism, emphasizing that meaning arises from the interplay of these material “signifiers” rather than from pre-existing metaphysical ideas. His canvases also aimed to combine the static aspects of painting with dynamic movement, offering the viewer a unique sense of “being” within a flowing, concentrated moment in time. Biblical themes are notably prominent, viewed not merely as historical stories but as part of the “very fabric of today’s life” and deeply connected to ancestral memory in Jerusalem, which he considered his spiritual motherland.
A profound and distinct cornerstone of Aaron April’s oeuvre is his dedicated series inspired by the “Song of Songs.” This body of work, so significant that it warranted its own exhibition catalog in 1982-1983 (featuring an introduction by Felix Roziner and a letter from the artist), stands as a testament to April’s ability to translate ancient poetry into vibrant visual meditations.
April’s interpretations in this series are described as being in perfect accord with the beautiful biblical verses, inviting the observer to discover their own profound associations within the Old Testament imagery presented on canvas. These paintings are not merely illustrations; they are deep visual ponderings about life and love.
Felix Roziner eloquently describes these paintings as featuring “lovely feminine forms lit by an inner light, dissolved in the transparent watercolor.” This “inner light lives on beautiful profiles and naked bodies, shimmering and vibrating near the elusive brink,” powerfully echoing the poetic lines of the Song of Songs.
Roziner further illuminates the intricate structure beneath the seemingly free variations within the series, comparing the “Locked Garden” tetraptych to a Bach fugue. He highlights an “uninterrupted development of three ‘voices’: colour, line and the compositional equilibrium of the figure,” revealing a meticulously planned harmony and entirety that enriches the viewer’s experience.
April himself acknowledged his continuous return to the “Song of Songs” as an inexhaustible source of inspiration, underscoring the deep personal and artistic significance of this remarkable series.
