Beersheba
Visit the Negev Museum of Art to view new paintings by Khen Shish. Curated by Ron Bartos, A Feast for the Eyes explores the artists’ fascination with the orbs of sight. Experience her vivid colors, and how she “closed her eyes and beheld plenty/and gold,” as poet Yonit Naaman wrote about her work.
That particular line is connected to Shish walking in London and noting streets with dazzling South Asian gold shops. The experience led her to wonder if the objective qualities of the seen objects – whether they are solid gold, gold-plated or merely painted gold – is even important when all this shining glitter presents itself to be viewed.
Shown until Sunday, May 4. 60 Ha’atzmaot Street. NIS 38 per ticket. Saturday morning guided tours are available this month (weekly, 11 a.m. to noon). Call *8305 to book. Hours: Monday through Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesday also from 4 to 7 p.m. Call (08) 899-3535 to learn more.
Herzilya
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – Attend HORA, a cutting-edge take on the Israeli hora folk dance brought to the country by Jews arriving from Eastern Europe. It will be performed by the Ensemble of Love and Terror, a duo composed of Amir Bolzman and Ariel Armoni.
The show is part of the city’s FebruArt lineup of events, which are either free or at a symbolic cost of NIS 20 per ticket. Also showing will be The Brutalist, a fictional film based on extensive research into the Brutalist architecture that emerged in the UK in the 1950s, American culture, and the fate of Jewish post-Holocaust immigrants in it. The award-winning movie is directed by Brady Corbet.
‘The Brutalist’ will be screened at Cinematheque Herzliya, 22 Ben-Gurion Street at 7 p.m. Tickets are NIS 20. “HORA” will be performed at the Artists Residence Herzliya, 7 Yodfat Street at 8 p.m. Free. A comprehensive list of all FebruArt activities can be found online at bit.ly/4awzZRN.
Petah Tikva
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14 – Attend the festive opening of If I Was a Body, a group exhibition curated by Irena Gordon. Built around the theme of how fragile our human form is, it includes works by Vera Korman & Omri Alloro, Sigalit Landau, Merav Maroody, and many others.
Visitors will see Atelie at the museum’s entrance. This is a series of five monumental sculptures by Ofer Lellouche shown in Israel for the first time. The sculpted human figures, including a woman heavy with child, are without features – making them into universal symbols.
Patrons with edgier preferences might prefer to watch Orientations: Oratorio for two taxicabs, radio, and 16 participants by Daniel Kiczales. The video-artwork includes two choirs, the first with 12 women who sing on a bumpy road in a taxi and the second with four men who sing on the road from the airport to the capital. The two choirs seem to respond to one another as well as to the various signs they speed by.
Readers unburdened with driving home might consider concluding their visit with a good wine tasting at Jeruz Yard wine boutique. Located at the same address within easy walking distance from the art museum and operated by Jerusalem Vineyard Winery, there are two wine tasting options available: three or six wines (NIS 40/60 per person). The tasting includes a presentation about the history of the only vineyard working in Jerusalem.
Petah Tikva Museum of Art, 11 a.m. 30 Arlozorov Street. NIS 30 per ticket, free entrance during the opening event. Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. Call (03) 928-6300 for more. Jeruz Yard – Call 079-695-0350 for more info.
Tel Aviv
WORKING CLASS – Visit the art studio of painter Guy Nissenhaus and watch him create works for a new exhibition. You can visit from Sunday, February 16, at 6 p.m. Curated by Yoash Foldesh and Portolio magazine editor Yuval Saar, the program includes other offerings: Learn more about forensic science at the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IMF). You can also observe how designer David Weksler creates a new fashion show.
Nissenhaus’s studio is at 22 Shoken Street, 3rd floor. Patrons are asked not to touch fresh paintings during their visit. Weksler’s studio visit is at noon on Thursday, February 13, at 68 Shderot Yerushalayim (ground floor). The IFM tour is Monday, February 17, 5 p.m. at 67 Derech Ben Zvi. Visits are limited to 30 minutes, pre-registration required. NIS 38 per ticket. To learn more and book: eventbuzz.co.il/producer/v2/workingclass
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17 – Participate in Can You Beat the KGB? – a unique combination of board-game, performance, and audience-generated political art devoted to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Created by Danielle Cohen Levy, this sit-down includes vodka shots and a game-like structure that will introduce the audience to the very serious question of what they would choose to do had they lived under a political leader like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The name of the artistic performance is not hyperbole: Putin did serve in the KGB and was stationed in East Germany. The performance is held exactly a year after Navalny was poisoned and died during his incarceration in FKU IK-3, a Russian correction colony in the Arctic originally built as a gulag under Stalin. He was 47 years old.
9 p.m. Tmuna Theater. NIS 90 per ticket. Participation involves drinking vodka. Limited to 48 persons. Hebrew only. 8 Soncino Street. Call (03) 561-1211 to book.
Ramat Gan
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – Attend a festive opening of What the Heart Wants and see a rare positive turn in the local art scene. Following decades of borderline criminal negligence of the stunning Russian art collection donated to the city by Michael and Maria Zetlin in 1959, Ran Tenenbaum will present a dialogue with the remaining works in the Zetlin collection in Persona and Shadow, a portrait-focused exhibition curated by Dina Yakerson.
Original works by Léon Bakst, Diego Rivera, and Valentin Serov will be shown alongside these new works by Tenenbaum.
The shameful manner in which the city of Ramat Gan violated its promise to Maria Zetlin includes Rembrandt works being stolen, works kept in such terrible condition that they had to be destroyed, and the public auction of a portrait of Zetlin by Serov to raise funds for the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, where this exhibition is now shown.
What the Heart Wants is the name given to several solo and group exhibitions to open today, making it a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some current art in dialog with the larger forces in Israeli culture.
8 p.m. at 146 Abba Hillel Silver Street. Free entrance during the opening night. NIS 40 per ticket. Call (03) 752-1876 to learn more.
Art Roundup is a monthly glimpse at some of the finest art exhibitions and events currently shown across the country. Artists, curators, and collectors are welcome to send pitches to hagay_hacohen@yahoo.com with “Art Roundup” in the email subject.
