MAKING ISRAEL REAL: Artists Reflect Upon Israel at 70 – (1948 – 2018)

63. MAKING ISRAEL REAL: Artists Reflect Upon Israel at 70 - (1948 - 2018)

The Temple Judea Museum

Opening Date: Friday evening, Shabbat services 8:00pm - April 13, 2018

Program: Cheryl Harper - Making Israel Real - a Personal Journey

Closing Date: Friday June 29, 2018

MAKING ISRAEL REAL - Artists Reflect Upon Israel at 70

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: (List incomplete) Marlene D’Orazio Adler; Rhea Dennis; Robert Dennis; Rosa Leff; Carla Lombardi; Diane Pieri; Karen Shain Shloss; Jacques-Jean (J.J.) Tiziou; Silvia Y. Yovtcheva; Cheryl Harper; Rita Rosen Poley; JT Waldman; Dganit Zauberman; Rachel Zimmerman

EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION:

For Making Israel Real participating artists will reflect upon Israel as a nexus of world-wide Jewish cultures through a lens distilled by the arts and artists of Israel. As if in conversation with the painters, sculptors, fabric artists, printmakers and photographers. etc of Israel's past 70 years, this 2018 cohort will provide a new and unique context in which to explore Israel 70 and its ".. artistic legacy rooted in Jewish history and identity, the land of Israel, and the encounter with various modernities" Jessica Kraft (see below)

BACKGROUND:

First awarded in 1953, The Israel Prize is generally regarded as the State of Israel's highest cultural honor and it reflects the high regard in which the visual arts are held, both within Israel and internationally. Chosen by unanimous vote of the selecting committee, recipients are Israeli citizens or organizations who have displayed excellence in their field(s) and have contributed strongly to Israeli culture. Forty-eight visual artists, art historians, designers and architects have been awarded the prize since its inception in 1953. They represent a broad swathe of the world of the visual arts of Israel: kibbutzniks, olim, graduates of Bezalel, those who work in the Fine Arts and those who work in the Applied Arts, those who are very political and those whose works are not political at all.

This past spring, 2017, a selected cohort of local artists - many exhibiting in this exhibition - came together to study the Arts and Artists of Israel through the lives and works of winners of the Israel Prize. Led by artist-in-residence, Cheryl Harper, this unique program of the Temple Judea Museum was funded by the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia - Israel Cultural Engagement Grant.

What is your knowledge of the Artists of Contemporary Israel?

A Google search of the subject comes up with 2,470,000 answers in 0.79 seconds!

According to Jessica Kraft at "My Jewish Learning", "From painting to sculpture to video and performance art, contemporary Israeli artists are, increasingly, ambassadors of a national culture and identity. From the Israel pavilion at the Venice Biennale to the white-box galleries of London, New York, Paris, and Tel Aviv, to the generous circuit of juried international shows and art fairs across the world, contemporary Israeli artists are innovating and building on an artistic legacy rooted in Jewish history and identity, the land of Israel, and the encounter with various modernities."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

TJMuseum@kenesethisrael.org

Or call me at 215-901-2656

Rita Rosen Poley

Director/Curator

The Temple Judea Museum

8339 Old York Road (SE corner Old York and Township Line Roads)

Elkins Park, PA 19027

Artists Featured Below: Marlene Adler, Carla Lombardi, Dganit Zauberman, TJM Photo Collection, Rosa Leff