The
Old Kids From
Avni Are Back
|
A
Critique By
Shani Frymer |
In 1969 in Tel Aviv a group of young idealistic artists
attended the Avni Institute of fine arts. One by one, upon graduating
they all made their way to New York City becoming submerged in the
cultural climate of Soho. They participated in co-ops and made artwork
on the street. They lived in lofts, which doubled as studios, taking
full advantage of the old industrial factory buildings in the late
70’s and early 80’s when Andy Warhol was snorting coke
in the east village and Keith Herring was doodling all over the
subways.
One of them was named Uri
Katchenstein, who was bald, wore one long earring on his right
ear, and worked in experimental video. He has become widely
renowned for his art, showing all over New York, Miami, and
abroad at the Venice Bienale, and in Russia. In a deranged
music video called “Panta Rai” Uri explored the
musicality of a dilapidated singing saw, incorporating streams
of falling water, and wearing a hat made of computer chips.
The video progressed like a story, with random sections of
layered images including running water over Uri’s face,
and combining his keyboard player with images of fireworks.
The video evoked the feeling of being part of a colorful underworld.
His work has always rested in the experimental plane, which
explains his universal acclaim. His work spans across many
mediums including sculpture, performance art, music, and video
art.
Margalit
Mannor
UNTITLED
Photograph |
|
The week of March 12 to the 18th this year is what
is known in certain art circles as Israeli week. During this week
galleries all over Manhattan exhibit art created by Israelis, in
addition to holding panel discussions and screenings of award-winning
Israeli documentaries. Many of these works reflect and discuss the
current political climate in Israel. Upon a tour of these galleries
in Chelsea, some of these old students of Avni can be easily spotted
including Jacob ElHanani, Michael Giplin, Ofer Lalloush, Margalit
Mannor and Uri Katchenstein, who is currently showing at the Chelsea
Art Museum.
 |
Uri’s current work
on display is an installation featuring a new video and miniature
bronze painted sculptures that resemble Uri in the different
ensembles he appears in his video. There is also a smaller
video on the side which features a little bit of behind the
scenes “making of the video” footage. Uri constructs
all his own costumes, shoots all his footage, and edits everything
himself. The video itself shows Uri as a nomad, bravely wandering
through a variety of different destructive environments. In
one scene he is shown walking barefoot through the desert
in a silver spaceman costume twirling a giant salami like
a priest. What might seem bizarre to the casual observer is
actually quite brilliant. Not to be glazed over, this scene
is a reverse play on the lifestyle of David Carradine in the
old Kung Fu series. Part of the habits of a Shoulin priest
were to live modestly wearing simple clothing, and not eating
meat. Uri’s silver costume and meat twirling antics
were intended to be the diametric opposite of the Shoulin’s
lifestyle.
Margalit Mannor
UNTITLED
Photograph
|
| A few blocks down, one avenue
over in a slightly smaller venue next to the Robert
Miller Gallery is a small company called Artek. Artek
Contemporaries LLC is currently featuring the work
of another Avni alumni: Margalit Mannor. Margalit works primarily
as a photographer although her background includes painting
as well. Her old work is an exploration of the urban landscape
and an abstracted study on architectural structures. The series
currently on display at Artek is a series called “Lechem”
meaning “Bread” in Hebrew. Subtly abstracted monochromatic
images of bread fill each frame, each with a slightly different
color scheme including ochre, brown, indigo, and grey. Natural
lighting gives each picture a softer tone, many of them muted
interiors with a large presence of blue. The blue speaks to
the shadows in the images, but also triggers cliché but
unavoidable melancholy. These ideas merge with the political
undertone that cannot be helped considering the current state
of Israel. Margalit wants us to react to them. Her pictures
serve as a reminder that her home country is a perpetual state
of war, and this distress seeps into its cultural climate. Not
to mention the fact that bread, or food is something that is
constantly threatened by the presence of war. They were shot
in 35 millimeter, printed digitally in a medium scale so the
detail is retained but the emotional quality of raw negatives
gives it a more natural feel. Overall they are thought provoking,
interesting color compositions. A well crafted series. |
Margalit
Mannor
UNTITLED
Photograph
|
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