The 7th Biennale for Drawing in Israel

Traces VII – Action Line

The Seventh Biennale of Drawing in Israel, held under the auspices of and produced by the Jerusalem Artists' House, has established its status as a unique and comprehensive artistic enterprise since 2001. Like previous editions, Traces VII is held at the Jerusalem Artists' House and several other venues in the city center (Ticho House, The Jerusalem Print Workshop, and Barbur Gallery), which together unfold the state of drawing in Israel and various aspects associated with it. The scores of participating artists and hundreds of featured works come together to form a grand artistic celebration. Like all previous editions of Traces, the current exhibition sets out to map contemporary practice in the field of drawing in Israel; to outline directions and inclinations, while emphasizing the conceptual and thematic transformations that occurred in this dynamic—traditional, yet constantly renewing—medium in recent years; and to sustain a dialogue with the previous biennials.

    Sia Preminger, Ink (detail), 2017, Video 8 min., photo Amit Mann

Approximately 600 artists responded to the public appeal to participate in the Biennale, and most of the 55 participating artists were selected from among these.

Traces VII – Action Line, the Seventh Biennale of Drawing, draws away from the conventional perception of drawing as a linear action unfolding on a two-dimensional support – usually paper. Instead, the exhibition seeks to manifest the power of drawing in a three-dimensional sphere, and to present specific aspects in the fields of sculpture, installation, performance and sound, which are nourished by a deep understanding of drawing while existing in three-dimensional space. Alongside the main exhibition at the Jerusalem Artists House, the Seventh Biennale will include additional exhibitions in public gallery spaces throughout Jerusalem: Ticho House, the Jerusalem Print Workshop, and Barbur Gallery. These exhibitions will entertain evident mutual relations, so that they can be read as different chapters representing a single curatorial strategy.

    Maya Attoun, Host, 2015, Pencil on paper, aluminum, mirror, towel

The exhibition at the Jerusalem Artists' House will explore the relationship between drawing and the space; the way in which the act of drawing outlines volumes in the space, introduces gaps in it, leaves signs and scars on it, or questions it. The exhibition will span mainly site-specific works, with special emphasis on the performative aspect at their core.

Curator: Hadas Maor

The exhibition at the Jerusalem Print Workshop will present works which are not necessarily prints, yet carry elements and qualities that may be associated with print, e.g. patterns and their distortion, constructing and deconstruction of a grid, the relationship between the multiple-duplicated and the original, etc.

Curator: Irena Gordon

The exhibition at Barbur Gallery will present a spectrum of approaches and actions relating to drawing, such as cutting, gluing, and casting, performed in traditional drawing materials; works which refer to the gallery space as a place where drawing may be executed; sculptures which form a surface for drawing; and two-dimensional works whose points of departure and conclusion expand to additional dimensions.

Curator: Abraham Kritzman

Ticho House will feature a one-person exhibition by artist Khen Shish, including works from several new series, mostly ink and acrylic on paper. Shish examines what lies between the random and the intended, inspired to complement chance images. Most of the works were created in a process of duplication and copying, reminiscent of Rorschach tests.

Curator: Timna Seligman

       Amit Leblang, Wall, 2019, Plaster casts, grout and plywood

Biennale Artists:

Jerusalem Artists' House: Maya Attoun, Tali Benbassat, Vardi Bobrow, Yael Efrati, Guy Goldstein, Michal Helfman, Irit Hemmo, Anat Keinan, Sigalit Landau, Amit Leblang, Rami Maymon, Lihi Nidiz, Avner Pinchover, Sia Preminger, Tchelet Ram, Nardeen Srouji, Rona Stern, Lior Tamim, Noa Tavori, Nahum Tevet, Limor Tsror, Micha Ullman, Adi Weizmann

Jerusalem Print Workshop: Etti Abergel, Nelly Agassi, Arie Berkovitz, Shoshana’h Ciehanowski, Maya Cohen Levy, Ana Dan, Nava Frankel, Eshchar Hanoch Kliengbeil, Talia Keinan, Joshua Neustein, Avishai Platek, Moshe Roas, Amir Rosenberg, Eran Sasson, Wanja Schaub, Malachi Sgan-Cohen, Amir Tomashov, Yael Yudkovik, Maya Zach

Barbur Gallery: Ron Asulin, Netaly Aylon, David Benarroch, Michal Gilboa David, Nir Harel, Shirel Horovitz, Liav Mizrahi, Matan Oren, Netally Schlosser, Noa Schwartz, Tamar Sheaffer, Noga Yudkovik-Etzion

Ticho House: Khen Shish

Free entrance to the Biennale exhibitions and events

For event updates, check the Jerusalem Artists' House website

Production of the Biennale was made possible through the generous support of: The Jerusalem Foundation; The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation; Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport, Culture Administration, Visual Arts Department; Jerusalem Municipality, Department of Culture

                        23 November 2019 – 15 February 2020

                                  Chief Curator: Hadas Maor