Know Hope’s ubiquitous character seems to like throwing shapes, but the Israeli’s creation isn’t usually dancing with joy – more like being contorted by the sorrows of the human condition, and buckling under the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Based in Tel Aviv, Know Hope has been around for nine years, and his gangly everyman has been his visual mouthpiece for the last six. The figure can be seen making a point on buildings, walls and interventionist installations, often accompanied by scrawled phrases and quotes. In Know Hope’s latest collection, The Abstract and the Very Real, found and salvaged materials – from old bits of plank to ornate frames and photography – have been used to construct assembled pieces which transcend specific world events or situations and instead comment on the universal shit that everyone has to wade through during their life’s journey. Lazarides Rathbone in London is hosting the Know Hope collection until 29th August.