Carry that Weight

Jerusalem Artists' House Exhibitions December 2018 – March 2019

Carry that Weight
Curator: Iris Mendel

            Shira Gepstein Moshkovich, Your Wonders are Over, detail

The exhibition "Carry that Weight" explores the image of a youth carrying an animal on his shoulders. It regards the image as something which passes from hand to hand, like a commodity or currency. They cross worlds, cultures, and periods, and change meanings and contents. The journey of that image has gone through various stations: In Greek culture, Kriophoros (Gr. "ram bearer") statues perpetuated sacrifice to the gods; in the bible, the idealized figure of the shepherd served as an allegory for good leadership; in Christianity, the image was reincarnated as Christ, the Good Shepherd; and in the Zionist context, it emerged as a symbol of the pioneering ethos in pre-state Israel.

           Netta Lieber Sheffer, Lifting, 2017, charcoal and pastel on paper

The works of the 21 participating artists extend from the 1950s to the present. They introduce a lively dialogue with the image, bifurcating into diverse narratives. Each work generates an intersection, a meeting point of one body placed on another, carrying and being carried, horizontal and vertical. It is a connection which spawns intimacy and dialogue: at times, the load becomes an extension of the body and an integral part of it; at times it is the weight on the shoulders, the burden and responsibility that must be carried; at yet other times it is a source of power and pride, loot or a sacrifice. The connection of the two bodies attests to reciprocity and various affections, such as fondness and love, compassion, or a declaration of power and ownership.

                               Eri Glas, Feast of First Fruits. 
               Menahe Bernstein with a Sheep on Shoulders, 1952

The featured works illustrate the power of the bearer image. Its idyllic-pastoral quality assumes new manifestations, which convey a myriad personal and social aspect. The works range from the shepherd figure to father-son relations, through allusions to the Sacrifice of Isaac portraying death and bereavement, as well as different representations of masculinity. Other works allude to feminine aspects, as well as to different types of burdens and the implications of the carried load on the body.

              Nir Hod, Bravo, 2004, Color print, Private Collection

Artists: Tamar Orr, Ayelet Albenda, Eliahou Eric Bokobza, Eri Glas, Shira Gepstein Moshkovich, Nir Hod, Roy Waks, Orit Ishay, Zvi Lachman, Netta Lieber Sheffer, Amir Nave, Adi Nes, Perli Pelzig, Galia Pasternak, Menashe Kadishman, Tzur Kotzer, Gilead Keydar, Israel Rubinstein, Yosi Roth, Leo Roth, Yehiel Shemi

Gallery talks (in Hebrew):  
Tue., 8.1.19 at 6 pm: Shira Gepstein Moshkovich and Orit Ishay
Sat., 26.1.19 at 12 pm: with the curator participation
Tue., 12.2.19 at 6 pm: Artist focus: Zvi Lachman
Tue., 26.2.19 at 6 pm: with the curator participation

Nelly Agassi: Homeseek (collage)
Curator: Marie Shek

Nelly Agassi's works are identified with the figure of the slender woman who recurs as a self-portrait of sorts in large-scale sculptures as well as small-scale drawings. This minor exhibition strives to shed light, for the first time, on her modestly sized two-dimensional works. It features near-miniature models of self-made icons with which she has been engaged in the past decade, since moving to Chicago.

Agassi presents four series of small works: drawn, sewn, and embroidered dresses; a model of a house obtained by cutting, excavating, and burrowing in black oak tag; collages depicting the woman as a house, a blueprint, a constructive woman, and a great mother; and a combination of past embroideries and delicate gold jewels, some shaped as predators, which spawns a new surreal language all her own.

Via embroidery, she creates remedial, elegant, and optimistic beauty which is born from movement between contrasting axes: small and large, death and life, black and white, sculpture and drawing, Israel and America, past and present, adolescence and motherhood.

Gallery talks (in Hebrew):
Sat., 29.12.18 at 12 pm: With Nelly Agassi's participation
Tue., 5.2.19 at 6 pm: with the curator's participation

Dvora Cohen: I, Lodërit: an exhibition in the 21st Nidbach series (Installation, video)
Curator: Yochai Avrahami

Dvora Cohen's, graduated from Bezalel- Heredi Extention, first solo exhibition spans painting, sculpture, and video. Her paintings depict domestic setting: a room, furniture, greenery, etc. The video works departure from the domestic sphere and subsequently - departure from the urban sphere to nature.

In the work Lodërit, Cohen is seen in a dark red pullover, her wet hair covers her face, transforming into an armored mask. The löder, an ancient Roman gladiator in Mishnaic Hebrew, is forced to fight, often against his will.

Cohen's life and art are underlain by a constant tension between the mundane and the mythical. Burning furniture in the yard appears initially like an act of mischief but also like an apocalyptic scene of devastation. An installation of plywood boards functions as a voyeuristic peeping apparatus whereby viewers may observe her video works., is also a film set, and reminiscent the plywood boards cast on the street after the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). The prohibition on recycling plywood reserved for holy use suggests the artist's skeptic approach to other activities, which is an integral part of her.

Additional opening: Tue., Dec. 25th at 5 pm

Gallery talks (in Hebrew):
Tue., 15.1.19 at 6 pm
Tue., 5.3.19 at 6 pm

Free entrance / for further information please visit Jerusalem Artists` House website

New Gallery Hours: Mon., Wed., Thurs. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Tues. 2 p.m. – 8 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.–2:00 p.m.