Absalon

Absalon was born in 1964 in Ashdod, Israel. He lived and worked in Paris (from 1987) until his death in 1993. He studied at École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy; École des Beaux-Arts, Paris and Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques, Paris.

Absalon’s work comprises white architectural structures and models, films and drawings that explore issues of living, safety, and self-selected isolation from a personal perspective. His most comprehensive project is ascetically minimalist interiors that he called Cellules (cells). Adapted to only one person and designed according to Absalon’s own measurements, they were intended as a space for seclusion, isolation and introspection, while maintaining proximity to the city.

Selected solo exhibitions include Kaye Pesblum Gallery, Helsinki (1992); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (1992); Musée Sainte-Croix, Potiers (1990); Aika Brown Gallery, Jerusalem (1990) and Contemporary Art Centre of Ivry – Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine (1989). He has been dedicated with several of solo presentations after his death, including Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (2013); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2012) and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2010). Group exhibitions include Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (1991); Tramway, Glasgow (1990) and Foundation Cartier, Jouy-en-Josas (1990). He has also participated in documenta IX, Kassel (1992); the Istanbul Biennial (1992) and the 45th Venice Biennale (1993).

His work can be found in the collections of Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek; Malmö Konsthall; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and Tel Aviv Museum of Art.