Noa Ironic
b. 1993, Petach Tikva, Israel; lives and works in Tel Aviv
Noa Ironic's work focuses primarily on painting and installation. Through figurative painting, she explores aspects of masculinity within the family or socioeconomic unit. Her recent works engage with the local and with a scrutiny of Israeli masculinity and Israeliness in general: what sets us apart and characterizes us, as such a young but diverse country.
For the Art on the Road project, Ironic chose to depict a scene of a family barbeque, focusing on the tense interaction between family members, the intense love that exists in a family unit, and the incongruity introduced by the political and generational gaps discernible at a family event such as a joint meal, especially when it comes to a complex family.
The image painted on one side of the truck relates to the eating phase, in which the mother comments on her teenage son's eating habits, while the father stuffs his face and the sister is busy with her cell phone. Everyone is seated around the same table in the same situation, but in separate worlds.
On the other side of the truck, Ironic depicted the son who was criticized at the table, crying on the lawn at the end of the meal, angry for being told off and frustrated for being misunderstood.
Ironic delves into a very specific and delicate phase in a person's life, adolescence, offering her take on the complex mother-son relations in Israel. The image was inspired by her personal life. The dining table, a theme she already addressed in past works, is bound to recur in her future works too, she says.
Grew up in Eilat in an observant Jewish home and studied in religious institutions until middle school. She holds a BFA from the Multidisciplinary Art School, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art, Ramat Gan, Israel.