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Yael Bartana’s video work A Declaration was shot in southern Tel Aviv, on the visible border between that city and Jaffa. It begins with the sound of waves and the image of the Israeli flag that fills the entire screen. This is followed by the whirring sounds of a helicopter. A young man in a white undershirt rows a boat carrying an olive tree in its place. With her camera work Bartana seems to flirt with 1930s Jewish National Fund (JNF) propaganda photography on the one hand, and with Leni Riefenstahl’s photographic technique, like the use of soft focus that distorts the perspective and vanishing point, on the other, A Declaration already attests to the action itself: on Andromeda’s Rock, Bartana replaces the Israeli flag with an olive tree. While this is indeed an act performed in a media context, it nevertheless takes place in the sphere of Israeli reality. (exh.cat. Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hatje Cantz, 2007, p. 93)
The work of Yael Bartana investigates the imagination and imagery of identity and the politics of national memory and identity. Her interest in understanding and examining national statehood stems from being born in Israel, and being surrounded by the perpetual production of collective national identity. After completing her studies, Bartana undertook what she called ‘amateur anthropological’ research into ritual and myth making to take a critical perspective towards her own history and nationality. As a result of her politically charged practice that often deals with Jewish identity in Israel and abroad, she has garnered significant criticism, notably being labeled as anti-Zionist and a self-hating Jew. Despite this criticism, Bartana believes that, through her work as an artist, exploring both political statehood and religious and political diaspora, she is responsible for addressing these issues. Bartana believes that growing up in such a politically charged state requires artists to become either political artists, or escapists.
“Untitled” is inspired by the movie “Opening Night” by John Cassavetes with Gena Rowlands playing the role of a fallen woman, anguished by her distressed life...
In his composition, Chocolate Bars, Eggs, Milk, Lassry’s subjects are mirrored in their surroundings (both figuratively, through the chocolate colored backdrop and the brown frame; and literally, in the milky white, polished surface of the table), as the artist plays with color, shape, and the conventions of representational art both within and outside of the photographic tradition...
The black-and-white photograph Men (055, 065) (2012) depicts two similarly built young men – young and slim, with dark tousled hair and a square jaw line – seated aside one another in identical outfits...
Oded Hirsch’s video work Nothing New (2012) utilizes seemingly absurdist tropes to raise more trenchant questions about communal action and collective identity in modern day Israel...
In his composition, Chocolate Bars, Eggs, Milk, Lassry’s subjects are mirrored in their surroundings (both figuratively, through the chocolate colored backdrop and the brown frame; and literally, in the milky white, polished surface of the table), as the artist plays with color, shape, and the conventions of representational art both within and outside of the photographic tradition...
Yael Bartana received great international attention for the trilogy series And Europe Will be Stunned (2007 – 2011)...
© 2023 All rights reserved - The Eye of Photography Jour de pêche - Russie 2019 © Corinne Vachon Ali Khan - Afghanistan 2019 © Corinne Vachon Rosan Gela - Pérou 2022 © Corinne Vachon Shambi Balas - Afghanistan 2019 © Corinne Vachon Jeunes Nénètses - Russie 2018 © Corinne Vachon On the occasion of PhotoSaintGermain and PARIS PHOTO, DartBLAY a gallery in Paris since 2011, presents SI LOIN, SI PROCHE, an exhibition displaying the photographic diary of Corinne Vachon, around the world...
Yael Bartana received great international attention for the trilogy series And Europe Will be Stunned (2007 – 2011)...
Video of Israeli Soldiers Handling Gaza Antiquities Raises Outrage Skip to content A photo of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jerusalem's excavations warehouse in Gaza (image courtesy Jean-Baptiste Humbert) The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) drew criticism online on Sunday, January 21, after its Director-General Eli Eskozido posted an Instagram story depicting Israeli soldiers onsite at a storeroom in Gaza filled with apparent antiquities, as well as a photo of a small display of cultural objects in the Knesset (Israeli parliament)...
Protesters Demand Brooklyn Museum "Take a Stand Against Genocide" Skip to content Protestors unfurl a banner that says "Brooklyn Museum: No Silence on Genocide" Photo by Hrag Vartanian / Hyperallergic The guerrilla action involving twenty activists at the Brooklyn Museum yesterday, December 8, was merely a drop in the bucket compared to the turnout during today’s planned march from the institution on Eastern Parkways to across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan...