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Press Releases
Opening December 17, 6:30 pm In conjunction with the opening, photojournalists Micha Bar-Am, Miki Kratzman, Alex Levac, and David Rubinger will participate in a panel discussion in the Youth Wing Auditorium at 5 pm. December 2002 - The Israel Museum presents an exhibition of photographs by Weegee (Arthur Fellig, 1899-1968) from the collection of German art dealer and collector, Hendrik Berinson. Weegee's bold, gritty, exuberant, and voyeuristic photographs of New York life have influenced following generations of photographers and have made him one of the most important figures in photojournalism, particularly in the field of tabloid news photography. This exhibition consists mostly of pictures taken between 1935 and 1945, Weegee's most prolific period, and includes the classic photographs for which Weegee became world-famous. Born Usher Fellig in 1899 in Zlothew in what is today the Ukraine, Weegee was the second of seven children born to Rachel and Bernard Fellig. As a result of rising anti-Semitism and pogroms in Russia, Weegee's father left for the United States in 1906. His family joined him in 1910, settling on Manhattan's Lower East Side. At the age of fifteen, Weegee left home and earned a living working in restaurants and selling candy to factory workers. He first encountered photography in 1917 when he was hired by a photo studio that produced photographs for traveling salesmen portfolios and architectural views of Lower Manhattan. He eventually became an assistant to a photographer, loading glass plate holders and preparing flash powder. After losing his job, Weegee worked alone with his secondhand camera as a street portrait photographer. Equipped with a pony, he photographed Lower East Side children on weekends. In 1921 he found a part-time job in the darkrooms of the New York Times and its agency, Wide World Photos, switching soon afterwards to Acme Newspictures, the photography agency that supplied images to the three New York daily newspapers, Daily News, World Telegramm and Herald Tribune. Frustrated with lack of recognition and not being credited for his photographs, Weegee decided to become a freelance news photographer. Working exclusively on the night shift, he quickly established a reputation, and in 1940 he became a special contributing photographer for the evening newspaper PM, which was launched that year. It is at about this time that he adopted the nickname of Weegee, which became his trademark for posterity. While considered the typical uncompromising tabloid photographer, Weegee was also a modern master of the art of photography. He used to sleep in his car with a police radio by his side, a typewriter in his trunk, and a camera around his neck so that he could be the first to arrive onto the scene, even before the police. His signature images were scenes of horrific murders, frightful accidents, pictures of crowds staring at crimes and disasters, along with arresting scenes of human interest and a critical look at the upper echelons of American society. His first book Naked City, published in 1945, became a great success. In it he documented "his" New York, elevating its street life to an art form. He showed the city's nightlife and its contrasting classes and cultures, caring about the common people and celebrities alike. The exhibition is made possible by Hendrik Berinson and is on view through April 2003. Exhibition curator: Nissan N. Perez, Horace and Grace Goldsmith Curator of Photography On View in the Youth Wing from December 1 New Youth Wing Exhibition Explores the Interrelationships Between Food and Art Interactive exhibition for the whole family features artwork dealing with food, artwork made from food, an "Impressionistic" picnic corner, giant shopping carts filled with real food items, a uniquely designed kitchen for guest chefs to cook-up lively meals, and more. November 2002 - Food nourishes our bodies, and art nourishes our spirit - the intersection of food and art thus awakens both sensuous and spiritual pleasures. Through works of art, food-as-art, and interactive and edible installations, this interdisciplinary exhibition of the Ruth Youth Wing explores the subject of "food and art" and examines how different cultures have merged these two pervasive elements of everyday life. This year's Youth Wing project follows 2002's "Hands" exhibition and continues through February 2004. A year-long program of events and activities for the whole family accompanies the exhibition. From ancient Roman through modern times, artists have found food to be a fascinating subject for artistic expression. Banquets and picnics, fruit, meat, cheese, and sweets - all have served as subjects, symbols, and motifs in works of art. This exhibition focuses on food as a subject in painting, sculpture, photography, film, video art, literature, and installation, concentrating on the following themes: food as temptation - illustrated by portrayal of the "apple"; food and the five senses - the look, smell, taste, touch, and even the sound of food; food as a social experience; and food as an artistic medium. A special section features changing exhibits of artwork by contemporary artists from Israel and abroad addressing subjects relating to food. At the entrance to the exhibition, a real kitchen designed by High Touch, a leading kitchen design company in Herzilya, serves both an aesthetic and utilitarian purpose - the Youth Wing will invite renowned chefs several times each month and on holidays to cook and to demonstrate their culinary talents. "Each year the Museum's Youth Wing presents a year-long exhibition on a basic subject - providing an opportunity to synthesize aspects of art and life in an illuminating and educational way," says Israel Museum Director James Snyder. Exhibition made possible by The Marianna Griesman Fund; The G. Weinstein Fund in Memory of Joe and Salia Weinstein; The Rodman Fund; High Touch Kitchens, Herzilya Pituach; Osem Industries, LTD; and donors to the Museum's 2002 Exhibition Fund - Ruth and Leon Davidoff, Paris and Mexico City, Alice and Nahum Lainer, Los Angeles, Hanno D. Mott, New York, and The Nash Family Foundation, New York. Exhibition Curator: Hagit Alon, Curator of Programs for the Youth Wing Public December 1, 2002 Comprehensive Display of Hanukkah Lamps from North Africa on View at the Israel Museum Festive Lighting of 7th Hanukkah Candle on December 5, 6:00 pm November 2002 - North African Lights presents a rich collection of Hanukkah lamps created in the lands of the Maghreb - mainly Morocco, but also Algeria and Tunisia. The collection, given to the Museum in the 1960s by the late Zeyde Schulmann (1890-1981), represents the most comprehensive documented samples of Hanukkah lamps crafted in this region of the world. Enhanced by background photographs of villages, landscapes, and people from the region, the exhibition is a testament to one man's achievement in preserving the cultural legacy of these long-standing Jewish communities on the eve of their emigration to Israel. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue in Hebrew and English editions. The lighting of the Hanukkah lamp, or Hannukiah, is the principal ritual of the eight-day festival of Hannukah, commemorating the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in 165 CE. Jews from North Africa tell of using simple tin lamps that would be discarded after the holiday, but there were also many lamps, like those Schulmann collected, that were passed from one generation to the next. Schulmann was motivated by a sense of personal obligation to document and preserve the cultural history of the Jewish communities of the Maghreb. He eventually settled in Casablanca where he prospered as a furniture dealer and traveled throughout Morocco to build his collection, later reflecting on his mission in his memoirs: "The great importance of this collection lies not only in its Jewish aspects but also in its human aspects; I needed to perform the task of collecting precisely when I did, because it would have been utterly impossible to do so any later." In the exhibition lamps are arranged according to their place of origin, style, and materials, and are significant for their contributions to scholarship as well as for their aesthetic value. The influence of Islamic art is evident in the style and ornamentation of these lamps, but Jewish artisans were also subject to other influences. The great diversity of styles attests to a link between the different Jewish communities of these countries and other parts of the world. Hanukkah lamps resembling fourteenth-century Spanish models point to a relationship between the local Jewish population and the descendants of Jews who had been expelled from Spain in the late fifteenth century. Tracing the evolution over hundreds of years of these Hanukkah lamps reveals the influence of craftsmen from the Netherlands, Italy, and, in later times, Central and Eastern Europe. The period of Turkish rule also left its mark, with Ottoman motifs adorning many Hanukkah lamps, especially from Tunisia and Algeria. Stone and clay Hanukkah lamps from the southern region bordering on the Sahara desert are similar to those used in Yemen, illustrating that these communities lived in complete isolation from the rest of the world, while also attesting to the age-old origin of the custom of lighting Hanukkah lamps. This exhibition and catalogue are made possibly by Les Amis Français du Musée d'Israël à Jérusalem and by the donors to the Museum's 2002 Exhibition Fund - Ruth and Leon Davidoff, Paris and Mexico City, Alice and Nahum Lainer, Los Angeles, Hanno D. Mott, New York, and The Nash Family Foundation, New York.
Exhibition Curator: Chaya Benjamin, Curator of Judaica
November 7, 2002 New Exhibition at the Israel Museum Opening November 7, 2002, 6 pm This exhibition of over 70 prints and drawings and 30 sculptures sheds light on the ideas and work processes of Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973), one of the great artists of the 20th century and leading formulator of Cubist language in modern sculpture. Lipchitz, born in Lithuania and active in France and the United States, created works that express powerful responses to violence, war, and the Holocaust. The exhibition includes drawings and three-dimensional studies on loan from the artist’s son and from the Marlborough Gallery, New York, and sculptures and sculptural sketches drawn from the Israel Museum’s collection. Placing Jacques Lipchitz's drawings and sculptures side by side is revealing in terms of understanding his creative process. Drawing was for this important artist a means to analyze how we perceive nature, and he used to say that it has no independent existence. In some cases he actually felt that he had exhausted the need to sculpt a certain idea at the stage of the preliminary drawing, and it happened that he drew a sculpture after it had been executed; but in general, his drawings served as studies for his sculptures. These drawings trace a particularly interesting path - from the initial idea, conceived in three-dimensional terms, through a two-dimensional sketch, to a three-dimensional entity. As a sculptor, Lipchitz was fascinated by the possibility of presenting an object from a multiplicity of viewpoints, and it was therefore only natural that, when he arrived in Paris in 1909, he was immediately taken by Cubism, which had recently emerged there. However, Picasso and Braque had developed the principles of Cubism on the basis of C?zanne’s later paintings: they rejected the ideal of imitating nature, and aimed instead to create a painterly language that would renounce the three-dimensional. It is therefore remarkable that Lipchitz managed to adapt this language to the intrinsically three-dimensional medium of sculpture. A pioneer in his field, Lipchitz drew inspiration from other early Cubist sculptors, such as Alexandro Archipenko and Umberto Boccioni; but he was also influenced by a wide variety of other sources, including El Greco's paintings and Prehistoric, Archaic, medieval, and African art (the latter of which he collected avidly) - all of them forms of art that are figurative without being imitative. For Lipchitz, Cubism was not a movement, a discipline, or an aesthetic theory, but rather a new way of looking at the world- a quest for a new visual language. He remarked of himself that he was and remained a Cubist even after breaking away from the vocabulary of Cubism, and that it was Cubism that had set him free, enabling him to exaggerate and distort the shapes of things independently of how they actually looked. Indeed, his works from the 1920s still exhibit the sharp edges, multiple facets, and massiveness that are so typical of Cubism. Most of the sculptures on view in this exhibition are sketches. At the beginning of his career Lipchitz made them out of clay, as a preparatory stage before casting them in bronze. In time, however, he developed such a predilection for bronze that he began using it for his sketches as well. Not every sculptural sketch was actually turned into a full-blown sculpture. The sculptures can be distinguished from the sketches by their greater size, but also by the fact that they are more fully developed and exhibit a poise that contrasts with the restlessness characteristic of the sketches. All in all, Lipchitz created over 180 sculptural sketches in bronze, 130 of which he gave to his brother, Reuven. In 1970, Reuven Lipchitz donated them to the Israel Museum. The exhibition, on view from November 7, 2002 through February
8, 2003, is curated by Meira Perry-Lehmann, Michael Bromberg Senior
Curator of Prints and Drawings. October 22, 2002 September 11 Commemorative Ceremony in Remembrance of the Victims of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks in the United States Hosted by Ambassador of the United States in Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem September 11, 7 pm in the Kimmelman Atrium In the presence of: President of the State of Israel Moshe Katsav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert Jerusalem, August 12, 2002 - Organized in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State and The Museum of the City of New York, After September 11: Photographs of Ground Zero by Joel Meyerowitz displays twenty-eight works which document through dramatic imagery the rescue, recovery, and demolition efforts following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. These photographs are selected from images taken by the eminent American photographer Joel Meyerowitz, the only photographer to whom unlimited access was granted to the site in the aftermath of the attacks. The exhibition at The Israel Museum, on view through November 11, marks the first anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The presentation at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem is organized jointly with the American Embassy in Israel, and it continues an exhibition tour of over 60 museums worldwide. The photographic archive created by Meyerowitz will eventually number more than 5,000 images and will become part of the permanent collections of the Museum of the City of New York where it will be available for research, exhibition, and publication. Joel Meyerowitz considers himself a 'street photographer,' documenting occurrences in everyday life. Moved by a strong desire to record the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York City, he created in images of Ground Zero a visual history of the sadness and heroism of this world-changing moment. Born in New York in 1938, Meyerowitz is internationally renowned for his photographic work, which has been presented in one-man exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and many other venues in the U.S. and internationally. His work is represented in the collections of museums worldwide, including The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. September 10, 2002 Special Focus on Works Inspired by the Artist's Jewish Heritage
and Connection to Israel Beginning September 10, 2002, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem presents
over 80 paintings and works on paper by Marc Chagall, drawn from
the collections of the Israel Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art,
and private Israeli collections. Chagall in Israel represents a
collaboration between the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum
of Art, in which the Israel Museum is lending approximately 50 works
by Picasso from its collection to Tel Aviv, in exchange for the
loan of 25 works by Chagall to Jerusalem. The exhibition highlights
the trademark images that have made Chagall such an important figure
in the history of modern art worldwide, with a particular emphasis
on works inspired by his Jewish heritage and connection to Israel.
Chagall In Israel remains on view through January 11, 2003. James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum, remarks: "The exhibition demonstrates the strength of Israel's holdings in the work of this great 20th century master and his ties to Israel. It also highlights the collegiality between museums in Israel and the strength of the relationships between museums and private collections here. These are all valuable messages in Israel today." Chagall and Israel Chagall's imprint is most widely felt in Israel through the works commissioned for major institutions in Jerusalem, which are now national landmarks. In 1962, Chagall arrived in Israel for the inauguration of the twelve stained-glass windows for the synagogue of the Hebrew University's Hadassah Medical School Center in Jerusalem. He returned to Israel shortly thereafter to discuss and execute tapestries commissioned for the new Knesset building. Chagall also completed mosaics for the gallery wall and floor of the Knesset, all of which were his gift to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Chagall made his last visit to Israel at the age of 90 in 1977, at which time he was honored by the City of Jerusalem and awarded an honorary doctorate by the Weizmann Institute. The Israel Museum honored him through a retrospective of his works held that year, which Chagall came to view with his wife Valentina. Chagall in Israel is curated by Stephanie Rachum. It is made possible
by the donors to the Museum's 2002 Exhibition Fund: Ruth and Leon
Davidoff, Paris and Mexico City; Alice and Nahum Lainer, Los Angeles,
Hanno D. Mott, New York; and The Nash Family Foundation, New York.
September 5, 2002 Awards Totaling $100,000 Annually to First Application Deadline November 1, 2002 September 9, 2002, Jerusalem, Israel - The Israel Museum and The Jack Wolgin Charitable Foundation today announced the establishment of The Wolgin Foundation/Israel Museum Fellowships. Conceived jointly by the Wolgin Foundation and the Israel Museum, the fellowships will provide special opportunities for professional development for qualified curators, scholars, and research professionals from around the world, to study the rich and diverse collections of the Israel Museum. The Grants Program is made possible through the generosity of The Jack Wolgin Charitable Trust, with an ongoing commitment of $100,000 annually to fund Fellowships in the program. Annual grants will be awarded up to $25,000 ($50,000 in exceptional cases) and may be renewable, up to three years. Fellows are required to produce a final work consisting of completed research presented in written form, which may serve as the basis for a future publication, exhibition, film, catalogue, display or other project relating to the curatorial and professional mission of the Israel Museum. It is intended that all research will result in advancing the state of knowledge concerning museum studies, as well as the recognition and accessibility for scholarly purposes of the Museum's collections. Jack Wolgin, the Program's benefactor, has been a patron and friend of the Israel Museum since its founding, having worked closely with Teddy Kollek, the Museum's Founder, from the time of the Museum's establishment. He has also been a generous donor to the Museum's Twentieth Century Art Building and to its Modern Art Department. The Jack Wolgin Charitable Foundation was established in 2000 to provide incentives for excellence in artistic, scholarly, scientific and medical fields. The Wolgin Foundation/Israel Museum Fellowships have been created to encourage the use of the resources of the Israel Museum and its collections as a source for professional growth within the international museum field and in a manner which will also serve to enrich the development of the Museum's collection resources through research, exhibitions, and publications. James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum, states: "Jack
Wolgin has a long-standing commitment to the well-being of the Israel
Museum, as well as an impressive understanding of the importance
of providing opportunities for professional growth in the museum
field. The Wolgin Foundation/Israel Museum Grants Program enables
Jack to contribute in an important and ongoing way to the professional
development of the Israel Museum and to the greater museum community." The Israel Museum, Jerusalem August 19, 2002 Fruits of an Unprecedented Artistic Exchange Between Israeli and German Artists on View at the Israel Museum and the Herzliya Museum of Art August 28, 10:30 am, advance press briefing, at the Herzliya Museum of Art with guests from Germany and with participating Israeli and German artists August 30, 12:00 pm, opening at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem in
the presence of: The Israel Museum is pleased to present an exhibition of works by 20 German and Israeli contemporary artists, including original artworks produced as part of the first exchange series of its kind between Israel and Germany initiated, organized and financed by the Kultursekretariat of North Rhein-Westphalia, Germany. Each of the 11 Israeli and 9 German artists participating in the project has created works in a variety of fields - painting, sculpture, photography, video, and installation, to be shown in joint exhibition held simultaneously at the Israel Museum (through December 7, 2002) and the Herzliya Museum of Art (through November 9, 2002). Artists were chosen initially by a team of art professionals from the participating museums and selected on the basis of quality and level of their involvement in matters of international contemporary artistic discourse. Selected artists then lived for about two months in their exchange host country, where they had the opportunity to become familiar with the culture, landscape, and way of life. Encounters between artists led to emotional and intellectual experiences that would not have been possible otherwise, and the artworks they produced reflect their impressions of their host country and are as diverse as the backgrounds and experiences of the artists. Some works deal with subjects that emerge from the history and culture of Israel and Germany, such as Jewish and religious identity, and the political tensions in Israel, while others are more oriented toward exploring the artistic media themselves. The participating Israeli artists are: Ido Bar-El, Zoya Cherlassky, Barry Frydlander, Ohad Meromi, Ruti Nemet, Doron Rabina, Adam Rabinowitz, Yehudit Sasportas, Gil Shani, Gal Weinstein, and Pavel Wolberg. Participating German artists are: Yukako Ando, Ulrich Genth, Uschi Huber, Vadim Zakharov, Markus Linnenbrink, Heike Mutter, Stephanie Pech, Jens Reinert, and Martin Schwenk. This is the sixth time since 1990 that the Kultursekretariat of
North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany has sponsored a dialogue between
artists in Germany and those in other countries by means of exchanges,
meetings, and joint curatorial projects. The exchange has taken
place with the Former German Democratic Republic, Belgium, Italy,
Poland, and Spain, yet Interchange: 20 German and Israeli Artists
represents the first time the project has left Europe for exhibition
in the partner country. June 11, 2002 Award Ceremony on June 11, 2002, 7 pm, followed by lecture by author and poet, Nurith Zarhi: "Hero and Character in Children's Literature" May 26, 2002, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - The Israel Museum presents the
Israel Museum Ben-Yitzhak Award for the Illustration of a Children's
Book 2002 on June 11 as part of the Hebrew Book Fair taking place
at the Museum from June 5 - 15. The Award was established as part
of the Museum's efforts to give children's book illustration a more
prominent place alongside other art forms and to help foster the
works of children's book illustrators. The prize is awarded in memory
of Rebekah Soifer and Michael Ben-Yitzhak, who were killed in a
terrorist attack in Zion Square in Jerusalem on July 4, 1975. Original
works by award-winners are on display in the library of the Youth
Wing Library. Honorable Mention to Rutu Modan for her illustration of Dad Runs Away with the Circus, written by Etgar Keret Honorable Mention to Rinat Hoffer for Match-Box Poetry, written by Rinat Hoffer. Special Honorable Mention awarded to a group of autistic artists for their illustration of I Have a Friend and He Is Different, written by Edna Mishori: Adi Schwartz, Dror Mishori, Amir Bai, Eli Zion, Betty Kleinman, Sasha Feldman, Niv Fuerer, Ron Vardi, Moshe Afomedo, Gil Yisraelovitz, Ashriel Schiffman, Lior Ovohovsky and Gil Shtal. The Israel Museum appoints three jurors who select an artist whose
illustrations they consider that year's best. Jurors consider the
artistic quality of the illustrator's work, but other aspects of
the book are also taken into account, such as the quality of the
text, layout, and design. Jurors may also grant five honorable mentions
to other illustrators. If there are no suitable candidates for the
award, the jury may decide not to grant the prize for that year.
Jurors: May 30, 2002 Explores Notions of Cultural Identity and Affiliation 11:00 am: Press Preview with the Artist May 30, 2002, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - The first mid-career retrospective of Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare will premiere at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem from May 31 through October 29, 2002. Organized by the Israel Museum, Double Dress: Yinka Shonibare, a Nigerian/British Artist will feature over 20 works, including large-scale installations, paintings and photographs. By interweaving African and traditional English motifs and imagery, Shonibare addresses critical issues of inter-culturalism with both sensitivity and humor. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by the Israel Museum. Drawing upon his own life experiences, Shonibare creates works that examine notions of identity and affiliation while challenging aesthetic and social structures and conventions. Born in London in 1962, Shonibare moved to Lagos, Nigeria with his family when he was a young boy. At seventeen he returned to England where he studied art at Goldsmiths College. His works are filled with both cultural collisions and confluences and often combine elements of "high" and "low" art.
Vacation, 2002, Israel Museum collection
One of the artist's central themes is the "dandy," and Shonibare often portrays himself as this aristocratic, witty, and decadent character. In many of his photographs, Shonibare also places himself in carefully staged scenes featuring iconic images of English high society. In his twelve-part photographic work Dorian Gray (2001), Shonibare assumes the role the namesake of Oscar Wilde's novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, inspired by scenes from the 1945 film version of the novel. "Shonibare's exploration of identity and affiliation in diverse societies could not be more timely," stated James Snyder, director of the Israel Museum. "The issues he addresses are affecting the social fabric of nations throughout the world, but are especially relevant to Jerusalem, whose history has been shaped by the confluence of so many cultures. The Israel Museum is a perfect venue for presenting the work of this important artist." Shonibare's work is in numerous private and public collections, including the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. "Shonibare's work is extremely powerful, intelligent and witty," noted Suzanne Landau, curator of the exhibition and Chief Curator of the Arts at the Israel Museum. "He captures the essence of our time by juxtaposing and combining disparate cultures and traditions, which makes his work so significant and meaningful today." The exhibition is on view in the Nathan Cummings 20th Century Art Building through October 29, 2002. The exhibition and catalogue were made possible by The Palm Beach Friends of the Israel Museum with additional support provided by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, New York; The British Council Israel; and donors to the Israel Museum's 2002 Exhibition Fund: Ruth and Leon Davidoff, Paris and Mexico City; Alice and Nahum Lainer, Los Angeles; Hanno D. Mott, New York; and The Nash Family Foundation, New York. The Exhibition In the early 1990s Shonibare began using faux-African cotton prints, fabrics that had become an expression of African identity, but were in fact products of colonial commerce and industry that originated elsewhere. At first he stretched the fabric across square frames, arranging them in a grid on the gallery wall; later he began to play with the fabrics in elaborate, nineteenth-century Victorian dresses and corsets. By the late 1990s his subject matter had expanded to include aliens and astronauts, along with spoofs of classic European high culture from Hogarth and Fragonard to Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. New themes, such as the nuclear family, were introduced, and familiar themes were explored in new contexts, for example, the colonial aspects of space travel. As his work evolved, Shonibare also began experimenting with a wider variety of media, including photography and digital imaging. This increased range of methods has allowed the artist to make pointed critiques across a spectrum of political, social, and cultural concerns, and it has given him the opportunity to situate the "African" prints in novel contexts, keeping the ironic incongruities fresh and sophisticated. Although often linked to colonialism and identity, Shonibare's works are not defined by this connection. "I hate conclusive things," he insists. "I think once a piece is conclusive, it's dead. The mind should be allowed to travel and have fantasy and imagination. People's minds need to wander."
Contemporary Art Collections An ongoing commitment to collecting, studying, and presenting contemporary art has led the Museum to build a collection of remarkable strength and breadth that continues to grow and evolve. The Department of Contemporary Art was established in 1982. The Museum also maintained a noted artist-in-residence program in which artists such as Jonathan Borofsky, Mario Merz, Dennis Oppenheim, Kiki Smith, and James Turrell have worked in the Museum. The Nathan Cummings Twentieth Century Art Building was inaugurated in 1990 to house the Museum's expanding collection of contemporary art, which includes works by such artists as John Baldessari, Mona Hatoum, Eva Hesse, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Annette Messager and Mark Wallinger.
May 6, 2002 May 6, 2002 - Images of sites and landscapes are integral to the history of Israeli art, manifested in painting, sculpture, and environmental works. Different perspectives from which artists view the local landscape serve as a way to trace the evolution of styles in Israeli art, from the orientalisim and idealism of the early 20th century, through the lyrical abstractionism of the 1950's and the conceptual art of the 1970's, and up to the work of today's young artists. At the start of the 20th century, students of the Bezalel School of Art and Crafts created Jewish ritual objects and functional items. These were decorated with views of religious and secular sites, whether used to illustrate biblical scenes or as symbols of the Judeo-Zionist yearning for the Promised Land. In the 1920's, rejecting the academic artistic style of Bezalel, Israeli painters related to the landscape through the language of modernism. The attraction to myths, to the remains of antiquity, and to the landscape of the ancient Near East - both an artistic and an ideological statement - received its most obvious expression in the work of Itzhak Danziger and the "Canaanite" group. In 1939 Danziger sculptor the figure of the biblical hunger Nimrod out of Nubian sandstone; today Gilad Efrat continues this tradition by painting views of archaeological sites that reveal the traces of ancient cultures. The landscape was also the starting point for the New Horizons group. Although the members of the group set out to produce a universal art form, the lyrical abstract style developed by Zaritsky and his colleagues was replete with obvious local signifiers. Artists such as Avraham Ofek, in contrast, depicted the landscape in a direct and figurative style, focusing on the place of the refugee and new immigrant. Since the 1960's the gaze of many Israeli artists has begun to wander from "here" to "there." In the work of Raffi Lavie, posters and newspaper clippings portray the local, while the international is expressed through postcards and reproductions from calendars and magazines. Gil Shani and other young artists seem to have turned away from both "here" and "there" in favor of views and landscapes lacking any clear identity. Political aspects such as territorial boundaries lie at the heart of works by Joshua Neustein, David Reeb, Tamar Getter, and others, who critique national symbols and myths. Tsibi Geva creates a dialogue with our surroundings through the image of the Arab kaffiya, transformed into a pattern, a fence, or a barrier. Like Danziger, who strove to heal the damaged land in his Nesher Quarry Restoration Project (1972), Liliane Klapisch exposed the destructive transformation of a landscape that had been depicted as untouched and whole in the early days of Israeli art. The exhibition is curated by Amitai Mendelsohn and Timna Seligman and is on view in the Merzbacher Galleries for Israeli Art April 26, 2002 Jerusalem, April 26, 2002 - Turkish coffee, caf? au lait, instant coffee - these different beverages all stem from the same source. The ways in which coffee has been prepared, served and consumed throughout the ages makes up the subject of "Coffee Culture", which opens on April 26. Objects are drawn from the Departments of Islamic Art, Jewish Ethnography, European Art, and Design, as well as from other museums and private lenders, and they can be divided into three groups: objects originating in Islamic lands, objects from Europe and the United States, and contemporary pieces produced by well-known designers. Contrary to popular misconceptions, which attribute the origins of coffee to South America, the coffee tree originally grew wild in the hills Ethiopia. From there it was brought to Yemen, where it was cultivated from the 15th century onward. The dervishes of Yemen were the first to drink coffee, in order to avoid fatigue during the nights they devoted to prayer and religious ceremonies. In the 16th century, coffee spread throughout the east, and the first coffeehouses opened in southern Arabia. The custom of drinking coffee was introduced to Europe in the 17th century where its preparation was influenced by practices for making and serving tea. European coffee was generally prepared by infusion and was thus not as bitter as that made in the East. Occasionally, cream and sugar were added. In contrast to the Middle East, where coffee was often boiled in a metal pot and poured into small cups, coffee in Europe was served from pitchers into coffee cups with handles, often made of porcelain which Europeans began producing in the 18th century. Soluble coffee, or as it is more commonly called, "instant coffee" is a fairly new product. Brewing real coffee is considered an art in itself, which involves several steps and the use of special utensils: roasters, grinders and pounding devises, coffeepots, and serving vessels. The styles and shapes of these vessels vary from culture to culture and period to period, and they also reflect social and economic trends. The exhibition, directed by Naama Brosh, curator of Islamic Art and Archaeology, with the collaboration of Shlomit Steinberg, curator of European Art, is on view in the Ayoub Rabenou Gallery of Islamic Art. An accompanying booklet illuminates the subject.
March 26, 2002 Opening March 26, 2002 March 20, 2002, Jerusalem - "What makes this art?" "Am I supposed to understand this?" "Why is this better than the work of my little brother?" Such questions enter the minds of many museum-goers when they enter galleries for Contemporary Art. This is hardly surprising, since contemporary art often strays from what many people recognize as art. "Who's Afraid of Contemporary Art?" seeks to provide simple answers to questions about recent art through a display of works drawn from the Museum's exceptional holdings in Contemporary Art, coupled with a program of gallery talks and lectures on how to enjoy and appreciate new art. Early in the 20th century, artists had already begun to test the limits of traditional painting and sculpture, appropriating objects of everyday life and introducing them into the sanctuary of the museum. Through illuminating examples of installation art, video art, large-format photography, and sculpture and painting, the exhibition focuses on the central issues that preoccupy artists today - some of which give Contemporary Art its distinct, and sometimes perplexing, character. Some of the subjects which the exhibition explores include the boundaries between art and life and the prevalent use of photography and video as art forms. "While maintaining its stature as an encyclopedic museum renowned for its comprehensive holdings in archeology, Judaica, and traditional world cultures, the Israel Museum has also been recognized for its dynamic engagement with the field of international contemporary art, and its collection is representative of the most important developments in the art world over the past forty years," states Museum director, James Snyder. This exhibition offers the opportunity to showcase the Museum's permanent collection, including works by such international artists as Barbara Bloom, American; Christian Boltanski, French; Robert Gober, American; Mona Hatoum, Palestinian; and recent additions to the collection including works by Nan Goldin, American; Ugo Rondinone, Swiss; Wolfgang Tillmans, German; and Mark Wallinger, British. The exhibition, on view in the Museum's Weisbord Pavilion, is curated by Suzanne Landau, Curator of Contemporary Art and Chief Curator of the Arts. March 20, 2002 Opening Also Marks 5th Anniversary of the Passing of Chaim Herzog, Sixth President of the State of Israel, with a Gift to the Museum's Archeology Wing March 20, 2002 Jerusalem, Israel - March 14, 2002 - "Handled with Care: Glass in the Israel Museum" celebrates the Museum's extensive glass collections, representing over 3,000 years of glass production - from antiquity to the present - through 150 examples of ancient glass displayed together with glass works from the Museum's Departments of Judaica, Fine Art, and Design. Glass works from different periods and cultures are displayed side by side to illuminate similarities and differences in material properties, manufacturing techniques, and function. Perfume bottles made in Shiraz, Iran in the 19th century are displayed alongside modern European examples; Dale Chihuly's blown glass is displayed alongside glass blown in Zidon 2,000 years ago. The exhibition also includes examples of contemporary art which employ the medium of glass, by such artists as Kiki Smith and Tony Cragg, and a contemporary glass installation by Israeli artist Gili Israel. The beauty, clarity, and fragility of glass, which traces its roots to the Middle East, have made it a material of enchantment for over 3,000 years; and the design of the exhibition illuminates its noteworthy properties - transparency, hue, patina, reflection, and refraction - as they are interpreted throughout the ages. A short film on the process of glass production accompanies the exhibition, revealing how the simple element of sand is transformed into objects of beauty and utility. Museum Director James Snyder states: "The exhibition has special importance for us in these times, as an opportunity to take pride in one of the truly unique dimensions of the Museum's, and the State of Israel's, patrimonial heritage - and also to celebrate a collection which is about beauty, clarity, strength, and fragility, all of which are proud characteristics of our lives in these times." The exhibition also provides an opportunity to celebrate the recent publication of two major books on the Museum's glass collections: "Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum," (Hebrew) edited by Yael Israeli; and "Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum: Beads and Other Small Objects," by Maud Spaer. The exhibition is directed by an inter-disciplinary curatorial
team headed by Yigal Zalmona, Chief Curator-at-Large, and Yael Israeli,
Senior Curator of Archeology. On the occasion of the exhibition's opening reception, which is hosted by Yad Chaim Herzog, the family of Chaim Herzog have made possible the acquisition of an important Roman military document dating from 90 AD, recording the military service of a Roman legionnaire who served in Judea at the time of the Great Jewish Revolt of 66-70 AD. This rare artifact of the ancient history of the Jewish people in the land of Israel is given in commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the passing of Chaim Herzog, the sixth President of the State of Israel. March 8, 2002 Opening March 8, 2002 More than any other piece of furniture, the chair has challenged designers throughout the world, with materials, manufacturing processes, and style reflecting cultural, technological, and social developments. This new exhibition at the Israel Museum, drawn from the permanent collection of the Design Department, reflects the evolution of chair design over the last 150 years through a display of 100 chairs, chaise lounges, and stools, from Michael Thonet's Vienna Caf? chair of 1859, to Ron Arad's Tom Vac chair of 1997. The chairs on display reflect design approaches that have characterized
the birth and flowering of the Modernist Movement. The "rationalist"
approach, stressing function and simplicity of production, is illustrated
by the chairs designed by Alvar Aalto, Ray and Charles Eames, Frank
Gehry, and Arne Jacobsen. By contrast, the work of such designers
as Ettore Sotsass and Enso Marie reflect a more radical approach,
focusing mainly on aesthetics and style. In the latter half of the
twentieth century, innovations in chair design were notably influenced
by technological advances in materials and manufacturing processes
developed in other industries. James Snyder, Director of the Israel Museum, comments: "The chair has been omnipresent through history - and through the breadth of periods and cultures in the Museum's collections. With the mass marketing of designer trends through home and lifestyle magazines, there is a consciousness about chair design which makes a celebration of our holdings timely." The exhibition, directed by Alex Ward, Curator of the Department of Design and Architecture, will be on view through August in the Palevsky Design Pavilion February 15, 2002
NEW EXHIBITION
AT THE TICHO HOUSE Opening: Friday, February 15, 2002 The Ticho House presents the first exhibition of works by British Lady Emily Gray-Hill, featuring approximately 50 landscapes drawn from the collection at the University of Liverpool. Lady Gray-Hill first arrived in the Holy Land with her husband, Sir John Gray-Hill, a well-known lawyer and art collector, in 1888. Delighted with the light and endless vistas, she painted watercolor and oil landscapes of the desert and its Bedouin inhabitants. Sir Gray-Hill and his wife came to the Middle East to tour the landscapes of the land of the Bible. Impressed by the places and people, they decided to build a home in Jerusalem on the peak of Mount Scopus. For 25 years they divided their time between their estate near Liverpool and between their house in the Jerusalem, where they enjoyed a panoramic view of the Old City to the west, and to the east-the expanses of Judean Desert. Their home on Mount Scopus later became the first building of the Hebrew University. The land of Israel provided Lady Gray-Hill with a wealth of landscapes and scenes for her to paint. The power of the colorful and lighted landscapes captivated her, and she transferred this enthrallment to paper and canvas. Most of her pictures are filled with small detailed figures - tents, Bedouins, camels and horses - set against a broad landscape. Her work was included in Liverpool's Autumn Exhibitions, and it also illustrated her husband's memoir With the Beduins: A Narrative of Journeys and Adventures in Unfrequented Parts of Syria, published in 1981. Yet Emily Gray-Hill never received real recognition as an artist in her lifetime, which may be why there is no record of what happened to many of her paintings and drawings after her death (the couple having been childless, there were no direct heirs to her work). Fortunately, some one hundred pieces are preserved in the art collections of the University of Liverpool. Thanks to the efforts of Prof. Jacob Wahrman of the Hebrew University,
the Ticho House presents a rare opportunity to become acquainted
with this unusual and gifted woman. The paintings and drawings on
view here, a representative sample of her works. February 26,
2002 February 26, 2002, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - A rare silver amulet dating from the 5th or 6th century CE and inscribed with verses from the "Shema Yisrael" prayer is now on display at the Israel Museum on extended loan from Ren? and Susanne Braginsky, Zurich. Research has concluded that this is the oldest known amulet with these Biblical verses. The amulet is comprised of a leaf-shaped pendant whose elaborate design suggests that it was worn as a piece of jewelry, possibly as a talisman. Notably complete given its age, the pendant is 58 mm long and 45 mm wide, with an average thickness of 0.7 mm. It intertwines words from the "Shema Yisrael" prayer with verses from Psalms 91 and Proverbs 18:10. While these Biblical verses appear on other amulets and incantations, the manner in which they are combined here is unique, and the use of the verses suggests that the amulet was intended to protect travelers. "This unique treasure adds to our appreciation of the basic human need to seek protection in times of turbulence and to the use of Biblical texts for such purposes throughout time. These Biblical verses were a source of strength and inspiration for the Jewish people 1,500 years ago, as they are today, " states James S. Snyder, director of the Israel Museum. February 26, 2002 Born in Tiberias in 1920 as a sixth generation sabra, Michael Gross has emerged as one of Israel's leading painters and sculptors, his achievements culminating in his receipt of the Israel Prize for Sculpture in 2002. Gross's art expresses close identification with the geographical and biographical landscape of his childhood, responding to the hot climate and vistas of the Galilee and Jerusalem. The exhibition includes over 25 paintings and two sculptures, drawn from the Museum's collections and from private sources, the majority of which have been created in the past ten years. A few of his earlier works will also be featured to allow for comparative study of his later works. The range of work spans from a 1949 sculpture of his mother, through to a painting completed in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. The tragedy of pain and loss are repeated themes in Gross's work. Over the years, he returned often to portraits of his late father, who in 1939 was stabbed to death by Arabs at his farm near the Sea of Galilee. This traumatic event left a permanent mark on Gross and provided the initial stimulus for his painting. Gross's desire to preserve and immortalize reflects both a representational and expressionist approach: the desire to capture a particular moment in reality together with a particular emotional state. The interplay of expression and representation lies at the heart of Gross's works, which are characterized by an unresolved tension between heroism and lyricism, asceticism and sensuality, loneliness and intimacy. Gross's paintings demand full concentration, as the viewer strives to decipher the enigmatic truth of a work and to understand its essence. The exhibition, curated by Yigal Zalmona, Chief Curator-at-Large, is made possible by the Gottesman Family Foundation, Tel Aviv; Alice and Nahum Lainer, Los Angeles; and the donors to the Museum's 2002 Exhibition Fund: Ruth and Leon Davidoff, Paris and Mexico City; Hanno D. Mott, New York; and the Nash Family Foundation, New York. The exhibition is on view in the Ayala Zacks Abramov Pavilion for Israel Art, accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue. FEBRUARY 22, 2002 Collection Includes over 14,000 Prints and Negatives Documenting FEBRUARY 22, 2002, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - The Israel Museum, Jerusalem today announced that it has acquired the collection of Tim Gidal (1909-1996), whose work has become an integral part of the history and heritage of modern photography. The collection includes over 14,000 prints, all of Gidal's transparencies, contact sheets, tear sheets, and most of his reportage and original newspapers featuring his work. The collection serves as an invaluable social and historical record of the events that have shaped human history in the 20th century. Tim Gidal belonged to the small fraternity of pioneering photographers whose work changed the face of modern photojournalism. Gidal's career took him to every continent, where he documented major events in everyday life in Israel, Poland, Germany, Italy, India, Ghana, Burma, China, and the U.S. His work reflects a particular interest in Jewish heritage and values and is apparent in his early documentary work of the 1930s, when he visited Poland and recorded images of local Jewish communities there. From the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine to the All India Congress, he used his camera to capture the pivotal moments in modern political history. Gidal devoted much focus to the social and political incidents of his time, and his talents as a historian are evident in the numerous books he wrote, including the highly influential Modern Photojournalism: Origin and Evolution, 1910-1933 which was published in 1972. "This acquisition reinforces the remarkable strength of the Museum's holdings in modern photography, emphasizing the role of Israel and the Middle East in the development of the medium," said James Snyder, Director of the Israel Museum. Gidal's work has been exhibited in major museums throughout the world and appears in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Biblioth?que Nationale, Paris; Fotomuseum, Munich; University of Texas, Austin; International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York; and Ludwig Museum, Cologne. The acquisition of Gidal's collection represents the culmination of a long-standing relationship between Gidal and the Israel Museum, which began in 1971 with an exhibition of Gidal's collection of gold weights, Gold Weights of the Ashanti: Nachum T. Gidal Collection. The first exhibition of his work, Tim N. Gidal in the Thirties, was mounted in 1975, and his final retrospective, My Way: Tim Gidal, was shown at the Museum in 1995. Gidal had hoped that the collection would remain in Israel, and particularly at the Israel Museum. The collection has been acquired from his widow, Pia, in part through the generosity of Gary Sokol of San Francisco, California. "Tim started his career in Israel, and he always felt at home
here," said Pia Gidal, whose initiative ensured that his wishes
would be fulfilled. "He very much wanted his work to go the
Israel Museum because he felt that the Museum would honor his collection
in a very special way." By the 1950's, Gidal changed the focus of his efforts to publishing and lecturing, working as an editorial consultant for Life magazine, and later as lecturer at the New School for Social Research in New York and Associate Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Social Sciences. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, London in 1965 and in 1992; he received the Israel Museum's Kavlin Prize for outstanding achievement in 1980 and the Dr. Erich Solomon Prize, Cologne in 1983; and he was elected Corresponding Member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft f?r Photographie in 1992. Gidal died in Jerusalem on October 4, 1996 at the age of 87. Photography Collection at The Israel Museum January 17, 2002 "Playground of
the Gods: The Ballgame in Precolumbian Art" Opening January 17, 2002, 6:30 pm, in the presence of Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert; the Ambassador of Mexico in Israel, Hon. Andr?s L. Valencia Benavides; and the Ambassador of Guatemala in Israel, Hon. Marco Tulio Zu?iga Morales. The familiar sight of two teams on a sports field competing for control of a rubber ball has its roots in Mesoamerica almost 4,000 years ago. Thus far, over 1,500 ballcourts have been found near Precolumbian temples, testifying to the popularity of the sport and to its central function in the major cultures of the area - Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Classic Veracruz, Mixtec, Toltec and Aztec. The ballgame became so important in Mesoamerica (the region between Central Mexico and Costa Rica) that it constitutes a defining feature of these cultures. Drawn from the Museum's comprehensive collection of Precolumbian art, "Playground of the Gods" features over 70 artifacts from Mexico and Central America, including the world's oldest ballmarker, figures of players, stone replicas of equipment, and ceramics depicting the mythological stories behind the game. A short explanatory film about the ballgame and how it was played accompanies the exhibition. The Mesoamerican ballgame was played for recreational, ritual, and political purposes. Commoners, noblemen, and kings participated in the game, which was accompanied by elaborate rites, chants, music, and dance. It played a key role in Mesoamerican politics and warfare, providing a venue for the negotiation of political alliances and the resolution of disputes. At times the competition even served as a substitute for actual war, with captured military enemies as the ballplayers. As a reenactment of complex mythology, the ritual ballgame reflected the deepest values of Mesoamerican culture, and the ballcourt itself became a sacred stage--a playground of the gods. The climax of the ritual ballgame was the sacrifice of a defeated ballplayer by decapitation or removal of the heart. Although it existed in a variety of versions, the basic ballgame was not unlike modern soccer. Members of two teams scored points by striking a rubber ball, using only their hips and buttocks, towards a ring or markers set along the alley or in the end zones. This is the first team sport played using a rubber ball, which weighed from half a kilo to more than three kilos. When Columbus returned to Spain after reaching America, he brought back samples of a strange substance that bounced, together with stories of how the Indians played with a ball made from the gum of a tree. It may be that ballgames originated along the gulf coast of the Olmec land where the flexible properties of the gum-latex-were first observed. James Snyder, Israel Museum Director, states: "The Israel Museum is fortunate to have in its collection such comprehensive material documenting the ritual of the ancient Precolumbian ballgame and is grateful for the opportunity to showcase this rich history." The exhibition has been made possible by the Maremont Foundation, Weiss Fund, Ellen and Jerome Stern Fund, and Wright Family Fund. Exhibition curator: Yvonne Fleitman For more information, please contact: |
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