Screening / “RE-Establishing Shot,” curated by High & Low Bureau
Date: Wednesday, 17 September 2014, 7–9 pm
Location: Cabinet, 300 Nevins Street, Brooklyn (map and directions here)
FREE. RSVP to rsvp@artiscontemporary.org
Commissioned and organized by Artis
Artis is pleased to present “RE-Establishing Shot,” a video program that explores the ways in which young artists from Israel use cinematic language to re-contextualize and challenge hegemonic narratives within Israeli society. The artists featured in the program—Guy Ben Ner, Roiy Nitzan, Amir Yatziv, Nevet Yitzhak & Lior Friedman, and Tamir Zadok—use and manipulate the cinematic concept of the establishing shot, a shot designed to frame the time and location where a film’s narrative is taking place. Recognizable cinematic and television sub-genres such as documentary, news reporting, feature film, and promotional video are all used by the artists to question claims to truth and fiction. Curators Yael Messer & Gilad Reich of High & Low Bureau ask viewers to “develop a critical approach to the construction of narrative not only in cinema, but also in the construction of narratives in our social and political life.”
A Q&A, moderated by Chelsea Haines, will follow the screening.
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
High & Low Bureau is a curatorial duo composed of Yael Messer and Gilad Reich and based in Amsterdam and Tel-Aviv. They curate exhibitions, film programs, performative events and publications in collaboration with leading art institutes in Europe and Israel. Recent projects include: “Synch(s) & Shred(s)” (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2011), “Our Work is Never Over” (Matadero Art Center, Madrid, 2012), “Time/Resistance” (The Israeli Center for Digital Art, 2013), “Am I Not a Citizen? Barbarism, Civic Awakening and the City” (The 13th Istanbul Biennial Film Program, 2013), and “Decolonized Skies” (apexart, New York, 2014). Their curatorial practice is dedicated to the exploration of artistic strategies that reflect on and suggest alternatives to specific social-political conditions.
Guy Ben Ner was born in 1969 in Ramat Gan, Israel, and studied at Hamidrasha School of Art at Beit Berl College before going on to receive an MFA at New York’s Columbia University. Ben Ner's work, which explores the relationship between the artist and his family, has been exhibited at the Venice Biennial, Cincinnati’s Contemporary Art Center, MoMA PS1, and the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv.
Chelsea Haines is a writer and independent curator based in New York. She is a doctoral student in Art History at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and a Presidential Research Fellow at the Center for the Humanities. She is editor-at-large of “The Exhibitionist” and contributing art editor of “Guernica.” Haines has organized exhibitions and projects for institutions such as Independent Curators International, Prospect New Orleans, Portland State University, the Shanghai Biennial, and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. She is currently working with Dor Guez on a large-scale solo exhibition to tour the US in 2016.
Roiy Nitzan graduated from the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, in 2005. He currently lives in Tel Aviv where he works both as a video artist and a professional visual effects artist. Nitzan’s video works and short films have been shown in film festivals and galleries all over Europe, and he was the visual effects supervisor for the acclaimed animated feature film “Waltz With Bashir.”
Amir Yatziv was born in 1972 in Karmiel, Israel and lives in Berlin. In many of his video works he addresses the military complex. Yatziv has participated in numerous international group exhibitions and screenings, including at Museum Weserburg, Bremen; NCCA Kaliningrad, Russia; The Israeli Centre for Digital Art, Holon; Ramat-Gan Museum of Art, Israel; Videobrasil, São Paulo; Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel; Haifa Museum of Art; and Tate Modern, London.
Nevet Yitzhak was born 1975 in Israel, and she graduated from the MFA program at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Tel Aviv in June 2007. She lives in Tel Aviv. She has won prizes such as the Givon prize for new art from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2013 and the Creative Encouragement Award of the Israeli Ministry of Culture in 2012. She is currently participating in the Artport residency program in Tel Aviv.
Tamir Zadok was born in Israel in 1979 and lives in Tel Aviv. In his work, he adopts different genres such as amateur photography and photojournalism and utilizes them to examine injustices and conflicts in Israeli society around issues of identify politics, gender and culture, and nationalism. In 2010, he received the Young Artist Award from the Israeli Ministry of Culture.
ABOUT ARTIS
Based in New York, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv, Artis is an independent nonprofit organization that broadens international awareness and understanding of contemporary visual art from Israel. Artis provides important resources, programs, and platforms for artists and art professionals to develop lasting partnerships and exchanges with the global art community and the general public. The organization’s activities include: Public Programs; the Artis Grant Program; Research Trips to Israel; Artist Career Development Programs; and our online resource, artiscontemporary.org.
