Group exhibit: "XXS (Extra Extra Small)," Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Thu., December 13, 2007 Tevet 4, 5768

Israel Time: 22:17 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Rosner's Domain

Diplomacy

Defense

Jewish World

Opinion

National

Print Edition

Advertising

Books

Arts & Leisure

Business

Real Estate

Easy Start

Travel

Week's End

Anglo File

Hanukkah

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Group exhibit: "XXS (Extra Extra Small)," Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv

By Smadar Sheffi

Tags: art

"XXS (Extra Extra Small)," the exhibition with which the Sommer Contemporary Art gallery in Tel Aviv opened the new art season, belongs to what is evolving as a worrying trend - lighthearted exhibitions that try to suck up to audiences but really only succeed in putting them to sleep. The art that is shown is not challenging, threatening or disturbing in any sense and fails to invite viewers on a journey inward.

What distinguishes this show from exhibitions in which celebrities are invited to paint on coffee cans, plates, masks or oranges? First, the fact that the proceeds from this exhibition do not go toward charity. And second, that some of the works are actually excellent; but these do not redeem the exhibition as a whole. Even the title "XXS" seems taken from a world in which art is used for advertising and public relations.

Just like commercial exhibitions of the type mentioned above, the present show does not include pieces that are organic extensions of each artist's larger body of work; rather, the displayed works were commissioned especially for the show and its particular theme - in this case, small-scale pieces. The accompanying text mentions that "the exhibition tries to examine the strength of a small-scale work... which contains more than what is visible to the eye. It has the power to send viewers off to vast expanses of interpretation and worlds of association." The only problem is that the value of what the exhibition purports to explore remains dubious as long as the works were made on commission, independent of the artist's individual creative process.

	Advertisement

The organizers of the show mention the influence of two central exhibitions currently held at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York State, both of which deal with the importance of scale in contemporary art. But these exhibitions, one about small-scale paintings and the other about large-scale ones, don't justify the show at Sommer Contemporary Art. Firstly because the reasoning behind these shows is not especially profound, but more importantly because the American museum, in the context of the small-scale show, underscores the fact that working in minute proportions is integral to the participating artists' respective practices.

Most of the pieces in the exhibition in Tel Aviv are disappointing. Even Monika Sosnowska, a Polish artist who has in recent years made a name for herself in the international art world (and who showed a large, excellent work at the Polish Pavilion at the last Venice Biennale), presents a work here that is neither interesting nor experiential - a light-colored, crumpled aluminum can. Regardless of the quality of the works, however, the decision to use size as a way of sorting and characterizing art is simply outrageous.

The show includes some pieces that beg for a more interesting context and which deserve to be shown independently, without an overriding theme. A work that stands out is the surrealist piece by Ugo Rondinone, a diverse and fascinating artist who shows here, against a white wall, a metal
keyhole that blows currents of air. The work is charged with sexual and mystic undertones, and seeks to free the fears expressed in legends about people hiding in walls and secret openings that act as thresholds into the world beyond.

The work by Guy Goldstein is also good. The artist cut a "sesame"-patterned floor tile in the shape of a slice of bread. The bread and the tile, a symbol of standard housing in Israel, form an image here whose strength lies in its modesty. Other successful works include the paintings of Thomas Helbig and Avner Ben Gal, who shows works that recall his "Eve of Destruction" series shown a few years ago at the Tal Esther Gallery. Additional standouts are Eliezer Sonnenschein's painted cannabis leaves and his work "Kinneret," a symbolist work fraught with detail, shown despite its large size.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Bored with Israel
	A study shows U.S. Jews don't feel it's important to care about the Holy Land.


	League of their own
	The PA's first unit of policewomen direct traffic in the West Bank.

Today Online


	Document reveals progress on core issues at Camp David
	Responses: 207


	Rosner: U.S. report on Iran should have been tossed, not published
	Responses: 64


	Red Cross: Israel worsening Palestinian humanitarian crisis
	Responses: 79


	Russia: Deal reached with Iran on nuclear plant construction
	Responses: 40


	Avineri: U.S. only effective on Mideast conflict in war or talks
	Responses: 44

More Headlines
21:43 IAF strike kills three Palestinians in Gaza City


21:46 U.S. ambassador to UN calls Iran report a 'goal against ourselves'


20:43 Sderot mayor Eli Moyal rescinds resignation at Barak's request


20:05 Druze MK probed for contacts with foreign agent


19:09 Greek historian convicted over book denying the Holocaust


17:07 Red Cross: Israel worsening Palestinian humanitarian crisis


18:36 Olmert vows to reduce class sizes in major education reform


18:17 Police arrest four suspected of attempting to smuggle ecstasy


21:10 Document shows progress on core issues at Camp David summit