“1984 was a turning point in my work. Until then, my paintings were influenced by the grayish light of Paris, the city in which I have lived and created for many years.
In that year, I returned to bright colors, which I have used in my early years as a painter. Tel Aviv was my main source of inspiration, and in my paintings, I tried to convey the bustling pace of life in the city with vibrant and dynamic tempos.
The following stage of my work drew on my memories of the city rather than actual city views. In my paintings, I roamed the streets, the painting easel with me, and transported selected fragments of my impressions, from different angles and various distances – onto the flat canvas. The titles that appeared in my paintings, like “I Went and Came Back,” expressed this approach. The attempt to portray an entire world on the flat canvas concluded in the piece “I Went, Came Back, and What I Did in This Time.”

For several years now, my paintings have moved away from the didactic dimension.
Each painting is like an extremely short trip. When I embark on the trip, I do not know when the painting will reach its conclusion and what will be its final color palette. Whether it will be very figurative or if the shapes will be more abstract in nature.
Other motifs have also made their way into the works, in which I go into shops,  hopping malls, and galleries.

The work process is complex: the painting starts with quick and spontaneous impressions and continues with thinking and planning. If after the first “trip” I am not pleased with the composition that I have created – I do not attempt to fix it, but rather go on another trip, in which new shapes take the place of the previous ones.

In my paintings, I strive to remain a local painter. They are influenced by the blinding light of Israel, by the climate, the scorching heat, and the dripping sweat…
A chapter in itself are the paintings that I created as homage to my favorite painters, whose art have influenced my work at one time or another.”

Joseph Gattegno