Moran Kliger – Untitled 

In the 2017 Jerusalem Biennale, the exhibition What is Up What is Down examines man’s fascination with the relationship (or division) between Heaven and Earth.  Curated by Gabi Yair and Bitya Rosenak, the artwork is a commentary on how man finds his place in this complex subject.  There is sharp division, connectedness, and works depicting murky visual representation that could symbolically be the process of merging or separation.  Earth piece of art tells a story speaking to the Biennale’s theme of a watershed.  The watershed is a geological convergence and separation of bodies of water.  It is also a word used to describe pivotal moments in history.  The exhibition raises many questions: Are heaven and earth connected?  Is it constant?  Are there only specific times?  Moments in history?  Right now?

Moran Kliger uses contrast that can appear to separate or connect.  In her “Untitled” work, layers of thin paper each bare an image drawn in blue ink.  The organic shape is like water or mountains, deep blue against stark white.  There is both a sharp distinction between mediums in their texture and color and a beautiful dance of their convergence to together.  Without one, the ink or the paper, the other could not exist and tell the story.

Inbal Hoffman – Toolshed

Inbal Hoffman’s work “The Toolshed” uses common objects and whimsy, a combination that opens the work to different interpretations.  Garden shovels and tools are hung on a beam.  Symbolically, they are staked in the dirt as white plants sprout from their handles which have taken the shape of tree branches.  The mushrooms represent a duality.  They are growths that also bring with them decay.  The tools, both in the dirt and above, the beam splitting them like the horizon of earth and sky, are affected by what they are immersed in just as much as what is above them.  For new growth to take place, often something must be given up.  Something dies.

To see more works engaged in this conversation, visit What is Up What is Down in the Bezeq Building, 12 Chopin Street, Jerusalem from now until November 16.  The exhibition includes work by: Chana Goldberg, Michal Barnea Shani, Meir Natif, Yossi Pnini, Orna Millo, Doron Livneh, Bitya Rosenak, Dan Birenboim, Moran Kliger, Inbal Hoffman, Nava Ron, Einat Bikel, Oranit Shirazi, Leora Wise, Gabi Yair.  The Bezeq Building houses ten more exhibitions, with the Biennale having nine locations in total and 26 exhibitions.

 

jerusalembiennale.org

images from Jerusalembinnale.org and Inballhoffman.com