
Shutters and Stairs
Elements of Modern Architecture in Contemporary Art
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February 21 2020 - May 22 2021
Curator: Aya Miron
Designer: Michal Aldor
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- Artists: Joshua Borkovsky, Shibetz Cohen, Jesse Darling, Yael Efrati, Asaf Elkalai, Assaf Evron, Tsibi Geva, Matan Golan, Olivia Hild, Alex Israel, Renata Lucas, Saher Miari, Moshe Ninio, Roman Ondák, Hadar Saifan, Fred Sandback, Ariel Schlesinger, Gil Marco Shani, Hilla Toony Navok, Yonatan Vinitsky, Noa Yafe, Shay Zilberman, Jonathan Zofy
Architecture, from its grand manifestations to its small, intimate details, shapes our physical environment. In this architecturally designed space, we move about habitually, without paying close attention to what is around us, without actively gazing at our surroundings. Architecture is always in the back of our consciousness. But since we cannot take in the entire environment (or building) at a glance, our spatial orientation depends on our ability to glean information from meaningful details, such as a door, or a window handle.
An examination of Israel Museum acquisitions from recent years has uncovered an interesting phenomenon: contemporary artists directing their attention not to an entire architectural structure (or a part of it), but to a single isolated element – such as a floor, wall, door, or staircase – whose design is typical of modernist architecture.
Each of the works in the exhibition offers an encounter with such an element and with the conceptual underpinnings of its transposition from real life to the context of art. The materials of which they are made and their treatment underscore the materiality of the represented elements and draw our attention to small details that often elude us. Inspired by modernist architecture, many of the works recall the geometric abstraction of twentieth-century art. Like photography, which is an act of framing and exclusion, the works on view appear to have been cut out of the vast expanse of the world and cast upon the museum wall or floor. Presented in the gallery space, the shutter, window handle, and stairs – whose dimensions correspond to the human body – invite us to take a closer look, as though they have burst out from the unconscious realm of quotidian existence and are demanding our undivided attention.
Exhibition tour with curator, Aya Miron
- Jan 13Jan 16Jan 20Jan 23Jan 27Jan 30Feb 03Feb 06Feb 10Feb 13Feb 17Feb 20Feb 24Feb 27
- Jan 23Jan 30Feb 06Feb 13Feb 20Feb 27
- Jan 23Jan 30Feb 06Feb 13Feb 20Feb 27
- Jan 23Jan 30Feb 06Feb 13Feb 20Feb 27
- Feb 06Feb 13Feb 20Feb 27
- Jan 13Jan 16Jan 20Jan 23Jan 27Jan 30Feb 03Feb 06Feb 10Feb 13Feb 17Feb 20Feb 24Feb 27
- Jan 17Jan 18Jan 24Jan 25Jan 31Feb 01Feb 07Feb 08Feb 14Feb 15Feb 21Feb 22Feb 28
- Feb 01Feb 08Feb 15Feb 22
- Jan 13Jan 20Jan 27Feb 03Feb 10Feb 17Feb 24
- Jan 27Feb 03Feb 10Feb 17Feb 24
- Jan 21Jan 28Feb 04Feb 11Feb 18Feb 25
- Jan 21Jan 28Feb 04Feb 11Feb 18Feb 25
- Jan 14Jan 21Jan 28Feb 04Feb 11Feb 18Feb 25
- Feb 25Mar 04
- Feb 25
- Gallery talks
Gallery Talk | Street of the Prophets: The Jerusalem Print Workshop at 50 | Ticho House at 40Feb 26 - Feb 27
- Jan 30Feb 27