2092
Ella Canetti / Meshi Cohen / Carolina Lehan / Uri Weinstein / Oded Yones
02.07.2020 - 25.07.2020
Photos by: Yuval Naor
2092
The group of artists participating in the exhibition 2092 were born in 1992. The curation of the exhibition which was carried out by the artists, displays the year of their birth as it was shaped their minds over the years. The gallery space functions as a time capsule that examines the boundary between personal memory and collective memory, and raises questions about the process of structuring memories through historical intersections beyond nostalgia and pastiche of the consumer culture. All this as a reaction based on the starting point - the year of birth of the exhibitors.
The 2092 exhibition functions as a fictitious storage facility containing the artists' works. Opening the storage facility to the public, nullifies the year 1992 from the exhibitors' mental and intimate hold. The objects, sculptures, installations, and various items serve as signifiers of social and political phenomena: Carolina Lehen raises questions about the consumer culture and the shelf life of an object through a kinetic sculpture consisting of a shelving system that disrupts the natural movement in the exhibition space; Uri Weinstein mixes cultural icons with political icons in a sound installation that produces processed versions of 1992 hits: an election jingle by Meretz stylized like a Mindfulness radio drama encouraging the unity of "the power to make the change", alongside an instrumental version of Meir Banai's "Short Love" hit. In the center of the installation is a tiger statue wearing a cap on which is inscribed "Israel is waiting for Rabin"; Ella Kanti challenges the "truth" that lies between the collective and personal memory by creating drawing and graphic disruptions of familiar texts and icons like a board game (without) ladders and snakes. Oded Yones creates a drawing on fax papers that records a conversation that never took place. Mashi Cohen offers a possibility to conserve material and information by freezing. She installed ice sculptures in a freezer depicting fish with an internal skeleton made of canvas dipped in acrylic. Next to the freezer is a drawing consisting of the phrase "I am a vegetarian but I eat fish" which signifies the lack of awareness, the ignorance and the end of a period.
Opening the 1992 Time Capsule, opens an opportunity to renegotiate its collective memory. 1992 meets the future: that which is marked as a promise pending its repayment (2092). Her wishes may seem ridiculously innocent. Between the 1992 which remains in the storage facility, and its representation in popular culture that has been restored and worn down, a whole new 1992 memory was created, one that nobody has ever experienced.
Action Space:
2092 is the second exhibition of the annual theme of 2020, which is dedicated to exhibitions relating to the concept Action Space.
The year 2020 at Alfred Gallery will focus on examining the concept exhibition space and expanding its initial definition. At the dawn of the third decade of the 21st century, we seek to challenge the traditional conception of exhibitions and exhibition spaces, and to re-examine their role in the artistic field. Upon reaching 15 years of activity, the Alfred cooperative members seek to open a practical discussion around these issues and try to redefine our mission as a collaborative gallery and as an art and cultural institute. This year the gallery will focus on exhibiting projects and exhibitions that focus on collaborations that reflect on transitions between mediums and disciplines.
