HERE: I AM
IN SEARCH OF HOME
Israeli artists, as citizens and immigrants, presently find themselves living in a multicultural world. Their feeling of identity and their sense of belonging as cultural, political, and/or religious Israelis is fluid, flexible, and evolving.
This ambitious exhibition explores the theme of identity and immigration, featuring works by 23 Israeli artists living in Israel and the US.
25% of the proceeds from the art sale will be donated to foundations that answer the most immediate needs in Israel.
Yana Stup
Between Two Worlds
Mixed media
65 x 46 cm,
25.6 x 18.1 in
2022
$4,375
Between Two Worlds demonstrates a reflection on the journey of assimilation, weaving the stories of 'here' and 'there' together. It is crafted using two distinct techniques. The upper portion showcases a familiar, two dimensional figurative approach, and the lower part features an aluminum engraving – a method and medium I discovered after immigrating to Israel, my new home. I have bridged these mediums with sewing. Together these techniques represent my experience as a child uprooted from the known and placed amidst the unfamiliar. The stitching bridges two contrasting worlds, birthing something fresh and unique. This artwork demonstrates a reflection on the journey of assimilation, weaving the stories of 'here' and 'there' together.
Pnina Afik
Pockets 41
Mixed media
70 x 10 x 10 cm,
27,5 x 3,9 x 3,9 in
2022
$1875
This work represents the time I spent in New York as an immigrant many years ago. I was a teenager at the time. There I experienced degrees of difficulties that were significant and have lingered. These included learning a new language, mental challenges, the new surroundings, building new friendships and many more.
I was forced into and bound to a new environment, and all the while hoping to break the metaphorical chains and be free from my new constraints. These chains broke, in part, when I had decided to return to Israel as a soldier, leaving my family behind.
My artwork Pockets 41 represents this experience by combining disparate materials - hard (wood) and soft (panty hose) - that are tied together with ropes that “chain” them together.
Shahar Markus
Golda
Video art
05:14 min
2013
$9,375(1 of 7)
In this video, Shahar Marcus is disguised as Golda Meir, the only woman to serve as the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. He stands in a small kitchen while baking a cake and giving a speech about the relationship between Israel and the Arab states, which is based on Meir’s 1969 speech "Peace Among Equals." ‘The Kitchen’ is an Israeli political term used to describe the narrow forum of senior security officials who decide on top secret security issues. This term originated during Meir’s term as Prime Minister and it is directly derived from her habit of calling such consultations at her home in preparation for the full cabinet meetings the following day. Meir became known for serving the attendees freshly baked cakes, naturally conjuring the image of a debate around her kitchen table. This performance on screen identifies the dissonance between the feminine activity and aggressive speech creating disturbing moments in ‘The Kitchen’.
Shahar Markus
King of Falafel
Video art
08:05 min
2016
$9,375
The work "King of Falafel" is a continuation of Shahar Marcus’s video works that deal with Israeli cultural symbols, manifested by various food rituals. The current work takes place on the moon and depicts a fictional event – the opening of a new falafel stand. The video begins with a wide-shot of space and continues with Marcus, dressed as an astronaut, landing on the moon. After getting ‘lost in space’ he finally notices a flag and realizes he has reached his final destination. Thereafter, he opens an inflatable falafel stand and puts up his own flag with the inscription: “King of Falafel”. After struggling with the making of the dish, his ultimate success is celebrated with a triumphal ‘selfie’.
This humorous piece, shot in the spirit of ‘space adventure’ films, touches a few historical and contemporary socio-political issues. The major theme of the work is the discovery and conquest of a new frontier. This theme plays a major part in the Zionist ethos and the early formation of Israel. It also echoes the history of America and the Western European Colonial past. By depicting an astronaut who is wearing a white suit with blue stripes that resembles the Israeli flag, Marcus reflects on a contemporary ‘Colonialist’ phenomenon in the shape of Israeli tourism. This phenomenon is mainly expressed by the opening of Israeli food venues abroad as a form of cultural compulsion. As opposed to the European Colonial worldview of enforcing their ‘superior’ knowledge upon the local population, in this work, the conquering culture is that of simple street food folklore – the falafel. Ironically, the famous historical rivalry between former USSR and USA over the landing on the moon is thereby defeated by an Israeli pioneer – the first one to set up a food stand in space! By situating this surreal event on the moon – the symbol of future and progress – Marcus emphasizes the never-ending, universal human strive for conquering new and ‘undiscovered’ frontiers.
The picture is part of a series of works of Jewish holidays in which I photograph my family. In the picture Or, my little sister with a menorah that I made especially for the photo,the background is my grandmother's blanket from Morocco
Michael Liani
OR / My Light
Acrylic print (1 of 6)
20 x 30 in
2021
$2,313
2021
Anne Ben Or
Who Supports Whom
Mixed media 83 x 80 cm,
32,5 x 31 in
2023
$8,125
The main focus of the painting is two figures leaning on and loosely hugging each other. The background is made from a screen with translucent octagonal shapes overlay, and a few ghostly figures who observe the figures in the foreground. The floor on which the primary figures stand more vividly showcases the same octagonal pattern reflected in the background. Both the background and floor were painted on one-dimensional scales and give an illusion of depth.
My compositions consist of human figures, objects, spaces, ornaments, and sometimes also animals. These compositions depict my attempts to capture the atmosphere, moments, movements, presence, and the sense of space from reality. Despite the figurative components and the observation of reality, I have no desire to reach a naturalistic result but an aspiration to express a subtle tension between reality and imagination. I examine what a border is. We live in a world of borders that, in my opinion, cannot be eradicated. At the same time, while working, I'm discovering that a border is where two independent bodies touch each other. A border is a place of both separation and contact, a kind of thread that connects different parts of the same garment. It is sharp and clear in one place, merges in another, and finally, an image is formed. Without a border, there is no painting, no image, no people connecting, no children, no family, no flowers, no diversity, no shapes, no beauty, no world. There is only mud, like before the world was created.
Avital Meshi
This Person is Not Me
Interactive AI+AR Mural
1x1m, 39,3x39,3
2022
$1,188
This Person Is Not Me is an interactive mural featuring hundreds of similar portraits. All of them resemble the artist, but none of them are her. An AI system recognized the artist as its subject and generated original portraits in response to text prompts. The artist's face is shown in each image, but it is contextualized based on predetermined words. By exploring how her face appears under different prompts, the artist reveals the relationship between words and biopolitical structures and examines terms associated with different identities along with identity-related biases that are being systematically fed into AI models. The AR layer attached to each image invites viewers to reveal the words that created these images and to ponder their biases and misconceptions.
Nadia Adina Rose
From Here to There
Sheet, artificial leather, filler
38 x 105 cm,
15 x 41 in
2021
$12,500
The work consists of a series of sewn 3D objects representing a group of trees. Either their roots or branches are not to be seen thus taking their possible past or future out of the equation; their only presence is here and now. The long narrow horizontal surface on which they are placed creates the impression of progressive motion onward till they stomp on one another to form a jam-up. It is at this point that the internal strain accumulates and a leap forwards becomes possible. By the same token, events sometimes intensify before taking a new turn; or thoughts escalate and recur before a decision has been made; or, in accordance with a Hasidic practice, a person who faces a critical situation leaves home and goes to the woods to endlessly pray and meditate in solitude so that not only the person, but the physical setting of their circumstances metamorphose, and the problem is solved on a previously unimaginable level. Based on my personal experience, this pattern also manifests itself in stuttering: it is only after single sounds and syllables have scattered and accumulated in the mouth that the word is uttered and heard.
Mark Kanovich
Tell me your dream
55*70 cm, 21.6x27,5”
acrylic on canvas
2023
$3,250
Dreaming is one of the most mysterious and beautiful phenomena of our life. We all dream
dreams and try to understand and explain them. In my paintings one discovers people in various situations that can often be grotesque, surreal, exaggeratedly lyrical, absurd, or melancholic. This painting can be likened to the recounting of dreams, which is like revealing a secret entrusted only to me. In the resultant work one is confronted with images of contextual events that have happened in the past or will happen in the future and are unique to my experience. My art tells my reflection on stories about relationships between a man and a woman, a mother and a child, friends, and more.
This picture is an attempt to convey the pre-holiday experience, which is more intense and
vivid than the holiday itself. The feeling of carnival, causeless joy and fun, with hints of
sadness. Children become adults and adults become children. In fact, life is a long
preparation for a holiday and an expectation of a miracle.
Mark Kanovich
Waiting for Holiday
120*80 cm, 47,2x31,4”
ceramic on wood panel, acrylic
2023
$5,000
Tali Margolin
Cranes
Mixed media-acrylic
49x58 in
2023
$8,750
In my mixed media works I explore the theme of the journey. I use symbolism in my art through a show of geographical journey’s of self-discovery. This connects places and moments to rediscover my paths. My art is more evocative of mood and impression than in development of a clear narrative. It is a hybrid of artistic representation and physical process such as ripping, breaking and assemblage. I use packing materials representative of moving; yarn and thread representing connection to a place or an object; knots symbolize triggering memories; and rips display a sign of time and faded memories.
The completed artworks are a complex surface with nuance and detail that reveal themselves over time. Metaphorically, the process of layering materials represents my personal layered world where different places and cultures are connected to each other.
Nofar Noiffeld
JERUSALEM BARK: CASTING CANOE
Bronze
40 cm X 15 cm,
15,7x6 in.
2023
$3,594
Limited Edition:
Only five casting from the same bark
Step into a captivating narrative at this art exhibition as you encounter a striking bronze replicant of a Pine tree. This symbolic masterpiece encapsulates the profound story of Israel’s transformation from barren land to thriving nation. The sculpture pays homage to the intricate relationship between the land and its people, intertwining themes of homesickness, immigration, and a sense of belonging in a foreign country.
The sculpture stands as a testament to the remarkable journey undertaken by generations, where the initial settlers planted every tree in the Israeli forest, sowing the seeds of a nation’s future. The intricate details invite curiosity, beckoning you to explore the layers of history embedded in the artwork. The tree’s representation as a first-generation plant, nurtured by the second generation and ultimately utilized by the third generation, underscores the passage of time and the cycle of continuity.
With a tangible and relatable presence, this bronze Pine tree embodies the spirit of resilience and determination that shaped Israel’s identity. As you stand before it, you are invited to reflect on the unwavering commitment to preserving the land’s significance and the profound narrative of transformation that unfolds through each generation.
Dreaming is one of the most mysterious and beautiful phenomena of our life. We all dream
This video delves into my childhood memories, where I was constantly criticized for not having efficient control over my Arabic language. I was titled as a “traitor” and had to face ongoing shaming and trauma on a daily basis. The video features an abbreviated montage of my personal biography, giving viewers an insight into the main elements that have shaped my life. (The music composition and sound design is by Jonathan S. Leder).
Laila Abd Elrazaq
Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?
Video
2023
03.47 min
N/A
Karina Hananeia
THE DANCE IN THE DEPTH
Video
90 sec
2001
$3,750
The Dance in the Depth is a metaphorical animation film, a dance of love and passion until the end. The film is based on an ancient Inuit legend about a Raven and a Whale.
During his wanderings Raven trembled at the sight of the giant creature - the Whale. The anticipation of the unexperienced filled his heart. He rushed to the Whale and was caught with his breath. Inside, in the dark, Raven met the whale's soul and fell in love with it. He didn't realize that Whale and his Soul were inextricably bound together by the strings of Life. They danced their love till the depth of inexistence.
The visual language of the film combines the ancient legend and the reality where the director lives - Jerusalem, Israel. The film's decorations are made from close up photos of local trees: palm and olive, and bare Jerusalem concrete, printed on transparent slides; they create a multilayered world of the legend. The characters are made from bark of the same trees and ink drawing on glass.
Paz Sher
200% Authentic
34 x 22 Inches Cast Aluminum, a photography light wand;
2023
$5,250
(The work is a component in an installation titled "Hold It") This work shows a tempting sign that offers to raise the volume of one's authenticity beyond the meaning the word suggests, inviting an exit from the confines of language and stepping into the ambiguity of our identity. Authenticity is a philosophical and psychological concept that refers to subjective truth. It can only be measured by the individual in relation to themselves. The philosopher Heidegger claims that authenticity is a state in which the individual is open to discovering the infinite possibilities of use inherent in everything that exists in their world. On one hand, the notion of 200 percent removes all barriers between "me" and what's out there, as if being exposed excessively to everything within. On the other hand, the question arises whether such a thing is even possible - isn't it also a falsehood or a forgery? Why not 100%? Why not simply be authentic without any measure? This ironic position takes everything into doubt, where every indication also points toward its opposite.
Pesya Altman
Suitcase
Oil paint, paper, markers on canvas
30x40 inches
2020
$4,375
Suitcases in art often symbolize travel and wanderlust, whether for pleasure or necessity. I have had to pack my belongings into a single suitcase more than once in my life. In 2019, I exhibited a collection of drawings and photographs titled "Out of My Suitcase." The artwork was created during an 18-month period of travel between Mexico, the United States, Iceland, Spain, and Israel.
About a month after the exhibition, I bought an old small suitcase in an antique store in NYC. It symbolized my voyage, and I filled it with small objects that I later used in a series of drawings.
The suitcase takes center stage in the painting and reflects the point of view of a woman taking an object out of it. The scene's location and time of day are ambiguous, suggesting a permanent condition. On one side of the suitcase is a drawing of a mermaid, and on the other side is a drawing of a bird resting on a branch. Both images represent travel and movement, through water and air.
The objects in the suitcase are not the typical travel necessities, nor are they monetary valuables. Instead, they are items protesting against the accumulation of material possessions.
Dalit Gurevich
Age 11
14 x 36 in
Video projection and acrylic on plywood
2002-2004
$5,000
Age 3
14 x 18 in
Video projection, acrylic and camera on plywood
2002-2004
$3,750
These artworks explore the dichotomy between collective and individual identities, between the need to belong and the will to be different and special. The work stems from being born and raised in a kibbutz, a communal society in which the Kvutza (age group) was an all-around unit sharing quarters, clothes, toys, and everyday life activities. The intensive nature of this upbringing created a strong connection and dependence between the children that magnified the identity conflict.
The work takes the form of an installation. It pairs acrylic-painted self-portraits representing me in age 3 and age 11 with corresponding original video footage, establishing a multi-level dialogue of material and light, intimate and public, static and dynamic, subjective and objective. The work shows both sides of the same coin and lets the viewer find his own identity in it.
Uzi Amrani
The transparent soldier (a series of 4 photos)
50x35 cm each
Photography
2016
$625 each photo
I created "The Transparent Soldier" in the wake of experiences I had during my military service and the post-traumatic stress disorder that followed it. In this work I designed a “new uniform”, inspired by a Class B uniform and a military vest.
The choice of transparent, thin cloth represents the fragility of the soldier on the battlefield, even while using many types of armor. It also symbolizes the desire to be invisible in the face of enemy fire.
On the fabric, I printed psalms that I used to read in the "convoys of fear" in Lebanon.
The words are printed with spacing as a metaphor for the partial defense I felt while I was there, and for the silence and secrecy that followed my injury. And yet, the sullied and heavy uniforms became white and light as a kind of process of purification and closure.
This artwork refers to the second generation of the shell shocked.
"Daddy cover me"
A blanket that is supposed to protect and warm, is tainted with the father's hardships and pain and does not give the girl real comfort.
The uniforms used to fabricate the blanket symbolize the toughness and the battle. The embroidery, added by the girl, speaks of the hope and life of the father and the family.
Uzi Amrani
Security Blanket
154x105 cm
Mixed technique
2021
$3,125
Noa Hagiladi
Thirst/צמאון
Oil paint, paper, markers on canvas
30x40 inches
2020
$4,375
This image of a dry and thirsty land is made by glass powder printing and fusing, multiplied and
joined together. With this method a horizon line of broken land is created that refers to the land of Israel. The fragility of the land echoes in the fragility of the thin glass. A broken land, all the way to the horizon, thirsty for water, hope, and redemption.
This work suggests my personal longing. Having relocated from Israel I long for home; It represents a longing of Israel throughout history, as part of the Jewish legacy; It reflects on a longing for Israel as a utopian promised land. In addition work represents the fracture that is embedded within its mere existence. It also represents my own personal fractures as the soil represents my body and my existence. Thirst represents the tension between the hopes, dreams, and anticipation for a promised land, versus Israel’s nowadays reality and the multiple conflicts that tear it apart.
הָאֲדָמָה כָּאן
סְדוּקָה וּשְׁבוּרָה.
וּבְאֹפֶק, מָה?
צִמָּאוֹן,
שִׁטָּפוֹן,
וָשׁוּב שִׁטָּפוֹן.
וְשׁוּב צִמָּאוֹן
מַעְגָּל
סוֹבֵב ו
נָסֹב.
הָאֲדָמָה כָּאן צְמֵאָה.
הָאֲדָמָה כָּאן תָּמִיד צְמֵאָה.
In this installation Serlin reconstructs the craft of weaving that her foremothers used to do, on Atzei Chaim [wooden Torah poles] that she found beneath her studio. Continuing other works of weaving, Serlin creates faulty looms that deal with the repetitive activity through which she talks about memories that exist in the body and the soul.
Yael Serlin
Zerbaya / The weaver
Installation
2021
25,000$
"Displaced Echoes" photo exhibit features an abandoned steel house encased in concrete, evoking themes of displacement and ethical concerns. The rusted steel and concrete create a thought-provoking marriage of textures, speaking volumes about the struggles faced by marginalized populations. Viewers are encouraged to reflect on the ethical dilemmas of claiming spaces with intricate histories..
Rinat
Home#1
Printing on plexiglass
65 x 90 cm, 25,5 x 35,4 in
$1,000
.jpg)
The "An Eye for an Eye" stamp series is my most extended and ongoing project, featuring tiny collages on stamps from various countries framed in magnifying glasses. I created the initial works for the 2015 "Abroad" exhibition at the Binyamin Gallery, using my grandfather and brother's stamp collection that was passed down to me. Since then, I have developed my own stamp collection, and the "Loups Installations" have been displayed internationally in numerous exhibitions.
Lilac Madar
An Eye for an Eye [NYWF series],
9 Stamps Grid/Row Installation,
Assemblage on Stamp + Magnifying Glass, 8X8X10 cm (each), 3 ⁵/₃₂X 3 ⁵/₃₂X 4
Each: $613
3+: $375 Each
Anat Keinan
“Meander” Steel
72x11.5x16”
2022
4,500$
Meander, a rigid steel-made airy sculpture, is a three-dimensional drawing in space. The sculpture’s structure is divided into four detached sections, which collectively form a single unified line. The sculptural drawing acts to create a linear rhythm of flow while holding the potential essence of compositional change, and reconstruction. The fragmented elements trigger a sense of contraction, expansion, stretching, assembly, and disassembly within the sculpture's spatial drawing line. The vertical metal lines of the sculpture are inclined at a 150-degree angle from the base, tilted to the side, while the highest horizontal line of the sculpture remains leveled and parallel to the ground. “Meander” expands the notion of drawing into the spatial realm. The Sculpture’s modular structure plays with perceptions of balance and stability, inviting the viewer to consider the versatile relationship between form, space, and movement.
Rigid steel, a material known for its durability and ability to maintain intricate shapes, underscores the sculpture's robustness and permanence. The clean, arched scope, and floating structural metal lines suggest a winding and indirect path, an organic trajectory of sorts. These two elements embodied in the sculpture elicit a sense of two contrasting forces coexisting.
Andrei Zeigarnik
False Memories
photographic print
51 х 41 cm (20x16 in)
563$
SOLD
This work comprises two acrylic prints from a series of eighteen images. It explores the concept of false or artificial memory, where memories are created for events and circumstances that were never actually experienced; that in this case are developed in the imagination from these images. It illuminates a paradox in which events that happened early in my history and a move to a new country, Israel, have blended and become visually imprinted in our memory. In doing so, we not only transplant our lives and work to this new place but also cultivate a profound sense of our presence and a connection to the past, stretching back even further. The photographs in this series are created from old slides discarded onto the street by their previous owners.
Caron Tabb
Human, 2021
Mixed media
26 x 23 x 3 in
2021
$3,200
During the month of May 2021, like many times before it, violence erupted between Israelis and Palestinians, in my sister’s home city of Acco, in northern Israel. Acco, a mixed Jewish-Arab city, is usually a hopeful yet fragile outpost of co-existence. Unfortunately it fell victim to the violent conflict between Jews and Arabs that has escalated across Israel and the Gaza Strip. This dehumanization and lack of acceptance on both sides results in ongoing catastrophe and devastation. Violence, destruction, and death are the direct consequence of labeling people as other. My artwork entitled “Human” is a tangible reminder of this tragic violence. It includes the charred remains of a frame as well as a Hamsa amulet meant to safeguard a home. Both were rescued from the burnt ruins of my sister's office.