Last minute before COVID : "Forgot My Password" solo show in Hala C gallery, Prague

On the 27th of February, two weeks before Israel was on a major pandemic lockdown, I had my first European solo show opening. Or as the Czech people call it: "Vernissage".

The exhibition took place in Hala C galley which is located in Prague 9. It was such a pleasant experience working on the show with Hagai Segev, who is an Israeli curator based in Prague. We met few times before the show, both in Prague and in Israel, and had quite a few talks online. he was so generous giving me his thoughts and ideas about the art world, based on years of experience. My favorite moment from this dialogue was finding the name for the exhibition.

I wanted a name which will express the way I perceive the essence of our time. I had all kinds of name suggestions which weren't just right. they were just too heavy and not cool, and Hagai felt it too. Before I offered the name "Forgot My Password", I apologized that it might not be connected directly to the works. I was afraid he will not understand me. But Hagai immediately loved the name and understood exactly why it is connected and funny.

Sea with UFO, oil on canvas, 160x100 cm, 2018

Forgot my password, is about getting lost. It is about being ashamed and frustrated every time you encounter with a big system. We are asked to know our code, numbers, digits, otherwise we will be lost without a sense of direction, unrecognized.

In many of my paintings I am like a creature who doesn't have a password to anything. There is a sense of chaos in the paintings. Some of the painted elements has no specific purpose and can not be identified at all. the point of view on the surroundings is always from far away, as if the viewer is separated from it and not participating in the game.

As Hagai Wrote: "The reality that Manor creates is colorful, engaging and connects situations that cannot exist in our world. It is a puzzle, an un-deciphered password, that appears on the canvas, which encourages the viewer to decode the shapes, objects and stories that are embedded on it and discover a new reality."

Sometimes I see this new reality as futuristic SCI-FI story about what will happen when we destroy our planet completely and maybe find another one? Other times it seems more like looking into the past when things were created before we came along. Anyhow, when I am painting I travel to the unknown, trying to get a better view on life and its riddles.

Invading Specie, oil on canvas, 88X70 cm, 2019

Then, of course, came a real disaster in a form of a world mysterious pandemic who changed everything. The exhibition was closed to public. I lost my job as an art teacher and had to give many passwords in social security websites to get some funds to make a living. I new that the world is too crazy and fast for me before Covid 19, but now everything got into high speed extreme madness. It seems to me as if nobody really has a "password" and virtual or physical viruses question our old ideas of order at the moment.