The current exhibition of works by 12 women artists seeks to integrate and blend issues of art, teaching, gender, and age. The participating artists are all in their 60s or 70s, still active and playing an important role in the local art scene. Most began to exhibit in the late 1970s and early ’80, at a time when they were “the younger generation.” This age group represents the varied figures of those born before or during Israel’s first and second decades as well as comprising representatives of the Second Generation of Holocaust survivors.

​

Polyphony refers to a musical textures in which several independent voices are heard simultaneously, without hierarchy: all of the voices are of equal importance. Since each voice is independent and distinct, attentive listening is required to be aware of and follow each component of the entire composition with its rhythmic and melodic elements. In this exhibition, as well, the unique voices of the participating artists come together in polyphony.

The works on view are in a range of mediums, some originating in the private habitat of the artist and engaging in contexts of individual and collective memory, while others present a formalist worldview. The catalog features a self-portrait by each artist which acts as a kind of artist’s statement of her worldview and biographical components, a self-definition, connection with her students over the years, and the intergenerational discourse with its possibilities of mutual enrichment.

​

The artists who began their career in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s paved the way for younger artists, both women and men, as these artists provided inspiration to their students. The gendered “glass ceiling” was cracked in the new millennium, but nevertheless, despite most of the participating artists having feminist life agendas, they state that feminism does not define their art, even if women’s issues may appear as a theme in their works.

​

Against the background of the problematic attitude that still exists in Israel towards art made by women, The Association for Women's Art and Gender Research in Israel was founded to encourage research on women artists in Israel and to reinforce the discipline of gender studies in art. The current exhibition is a joint project of the Association together with the New Gallery Artists’ Studios.

​

Participating artists:

Etti Abergel/ Deganit Berest/ Nomi Bruckmann / Miriam Gamburd / Pesi Girsch / Yudith Levin / Maya Cohen Levy / Noa Ben-Nun Melamed / Devora Morag/ Tessie Cohen Pfeffer / Pnina Reichman / Talia Tokatly

​

Curator: Dalia Danon

​