Group Exhibition

The exhibition Masterpieces took shape in a time of seclusion and cultural isolation. First, due to the Covid lockdowns, then, under the shadow of the judicial overhaul, and over the past months, in the wake of the ongoing war. It features about 300 works by 46 artists of different generations from the local art scene, who reenact masterpieces of Western art history. Sometimes, this repetition takes the form of a copy, sometimes it involves a change of artistic style or a shift from one medium to another, and it is always created from a new context, in a different artistic, social, or political reality, and under the specific circumstances of a different time and place. The common through line that they all share is the recreation of the entire composition of the original artwork, meaning: As opposed to homage, inspiration, quote, synthesis, or correspondence, these are reenactments.

The exhibition spans two simultaneous levels: the history of Western art, from the Italian Renaissance to Picasso, and the history of local art. It delineates major periods and schools in Western art history – Italian and Northern Renaissance, Baroque, Romanticism, Neoclassicism, Realism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism – but does so through the retrospective examination of art created in Israel. With that, it touches on questions concerning the distinction between original and copy, great artists and masterpieces, localism and universalism, center and periphery. It is also informed by the current political climate, here and in other parts of the world, which often leads to seclusion instead of openness, to problematic political processes, and to widespread public protests.

The practice of reenactment is deeply rooted in the history of art. It allows artists to connect to the past, and in the same breath, create an entirely new piece. Over the years, even the great masters reenacted works created by their predecessors: Rubens painted after Titian and Michelangelo, Cézanne painted after Delacroix and Rembrandt, Picasso painted after Velázquez, Bruegel the Younger painted after his father, and so on. Sometimes, the goal of the reenactment is to study and examine the art of the past. Sometimes, it marks a group of belonging for the contemporary artists. Sometimes, it allows us to examine the present by looking at the past or offers a way to introduce social or political issues, and sometimes it prompts an intra-artistic process or an exploration of a certain medium.

The exhibition’s title Masterpieces alludes to the irony inherent in the absence of classic masterpieces and Old Masters from the exhibition. At the same time, it also hints at the fact that all the works featured in it are significant original artworks created by prominent artists in the local art scene, and with that, showcases the wealth and depth of local art.

Artists: Fouad Agbaria, Orit Akta, Rotem Amizur, Chaim Atar, Matan Ben Cnaan, Aya Ben Ron, Uri Ben Natan, Boyan, Udi Charka, Zoya Cherkassky, Dvir Cohen Kedar, Reut Dafna, Odelia Elhanani, Bracha L. Ettinger, Katia Gali, Asaf and Moran Gam Hacohen, Tsuki Garbian, Aram Gershuni, Michal Helfman, Irit Hemmo, Jonathan Hirschfeld, Eti Jacobi Lelior, Liliane Klapisch, Jossef Krispel, Olga Kundina, Zvi Lachman, Sigalit Landau, Michael Liani, Anna Lukashevsky, Ido Marcus, Yossi Mark, Karam Natour, Adi Nes, David Nipo, Ruth Schloss, Sasha Serber, Elie Shamir, Michal Shamir, Menachem Shemi, Roni Taharlev, Boaz Tal, Igael Tumarkin, Yonatan Ullman, Tamir Zadok, Natalia Zourabova