Puts' Penguin
September 2000
Oil paint on polyester penguin 1.65 m high
I painted one of 200 polyester penguins of 1.65 m high. They were spread in and around Tel Aviv. My penguin was in Herzliya (Harav Cook Street, close to the Herzliya Museum and Central Bus Station).
As I feel in Israel like a penguin in the Negev desert, I equipped my bird with strong portholes, security windows, on back and stomach. They press heavy on his belly and breast, but they provide the penguin with an emergency supply of cool and clean Arctic water. They protect the penguin against the Middle Eastern heat and against the ongoing political, religious, social, cultural and personal state of war around him.
On the street in Herzliya however, the penguin was beaten, kicked, stabbed and finally decapitated. Restoration was extremely difficult.
March 2001 all penguins, including mine, were sold by auction at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The current owner is unknown.
