. Conversations at the Edge (CATE)

Yael Bartana: A Declaration

Posted by | Kelly M Shindler | Posted on | March 7, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 6:00 pm | Yael Bartana in person!

Mur i Wieża (Wall and Tower) (Yael Bartana, RED HD video, 15 min, 2009). Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery Amsterdam.

Amsterdam- and Tel Aviv-based artist Yael Bartana’s slippery, sophisticated films and videos reflect upon contemporary Israeli culture, the ideas and rituals that bind its citizens together, and its larger geopolitical context. Drawing upon ethnographic traditions, utopian Soviet-style propaganda, and historical reenactment, Bartana’s work provocatively shuttles between irony and sincerity, playfulness and dead seriousness to examine the complex historical and political relations between Israel, Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Bartana will present an overview of her practice, including the first two installments of her latest project, The Polish Trilogy (Nightmares, 2007 and Wall and Tower, 2009) and discuss her work on the third, which will premiere at this year’s Venice Biennale. Additional works include Kings of the Hill (2003), Wild Seeds (2006), and A Declaration (2006), among others. Co-presented by SAIC’s Visiting Artists Program. 2001-2010, Yael Bartana, Israel/Netherlands/Poland, multiple formats, ca. 75 mins plus discussion.

YAEL BARTANA (b. 1970, Moshav Kfar Yehezkel, Israel) splits her time between Amsterdam and Tel Aviv. The recent recipient of the prestigious Artes Mundi prize, she holds a BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and an MFA from the New York School of Visual Arts. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), PS1 (New York), and Moderna Museet (Malmö); theatrical screenings at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Transmediale, among many others. Most recently, she participated in the 6th Media City Biennial in Seoul and the 29th São Paulo Art Biennial. Bartana is represented by Annet Gelink Gallery in Amsterdam and Sommer Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv.