Nightwalking

Adi Argov & Shani Sasi

Curator: Alfa Haimov

08.04.21-07.05.21

Nightwalking  

In the exhibition Nightwalking, large paintings on canvas by artist Shani Sasi, and woodcuts by artist Adi Argov, will be exhibited. Some of the works will be hung on the gallery walls while others will be installed on the gallery floor.

The exhibition Nightwalking is the culmination of a joint working process by the two artists, which lasted almost a year. Sasi and Argov, friends and colleagues in the field of art education, created the works separately, yet maintained a close connection and dialogue through the works. 

Adi Argov created woodcuts that originate from her sketchbook drawings. The works were cut from wood panels on which she drew, carved and painted using various techniques, as she explored the material context for each form. The works portray altered or exaggerated images, mostly figures in positions implying coping with hardship. Argov examines how the woodcuts function both as a surface for painting, revealing only one facet to the viewer, or as an installation interacting and directing the viewer’s movement through the gallery space. 

Shani Sasi will exhibit large paintings on canvas. The paintings inhabit primitive worlds, balanced upon simple forms, a kind of symbolism, of moon and stars, a stone or hand. The deep midnight blue is pierced by the brightness of forms that hover, glow, sparkle. The nearly monumental size of the works, and their momentum, contrast with the childlike expression, the bold colors and the simple forms, presenting a painting that is almost heroic – without heroism.

Both bodies of artwork, which are very distinct from each other, provide the viewer an opportunity to play with identifying and searching out the points where the work of the two artists intersects.

About the artists:

Shani Sasi – painter, lives and works in Tel Aviv. BFA graduate of the Faculty of Arts - Hamidrasha at Beit Berl College, and the Interdisciplinary MA Program in the Arts at Tel Aviv University. She works in art education. Sasi exhibited a solo show at the Tel Aviv Artists House and participated in various group exhibitions, including at the galleries: Hanina, Hagada Hasmalit and Artemisia.

Adi Argov – multidisciplinary artist, lives and works in Tel Aviv. BFA graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and and philosophy studies at Tel Aviv University. Argov works in art education, editing and translation. She is a founding member of the Nulobaz Cooperative art Space, Tel Aviv. She exhibited solo shows at the Hanut Gallery, the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, the Tel Aviv Artists’ Studios and Nulobaz Gallery, and participated in multiple group exhibitions including at Hanina Gallery, Binyamin Gallery, the Tel Aviv Artists House, the Ilana Goor Museum, Zuzu Gallery and more.

Action Space:

Nightwalking is the seventh exhibition of the 2020 exhibition season, dedicated to the theme: 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.