Magasin III Jaffa Books series of meetings with artists will host the artist Alejandra Okret to launch her new artist book “Illuminaries-Cats”, part of a series of artist books titled “Illuminaries”, which Okret started in 2021. The series is comprised of one of a kind handmade artist books, however Okret created a special printed version for the launch at Magasin III Jaffa Books.

Okret’s series of artist books, Illuminaries, is a continuation of a series of works called Trisim or The White Line. In 2020, during the world pandemic, in a time of fear and uncertainty, Okret wished to bring light into the world.  The book is drawn only with the white color (ink, acrylic and pigment) on tracing paper, in a wish to brighten a dark time. The story develops without words, so the viewers can tell their own story. Each book has its own box, making it a precious object that can be taken out to contemplate in a special moment. 

Magasin III Jaffa Books series of meetings with artists will host the artist Dana Yoeli for the opening of her new display at the vitrine – Through a Glass Darkly.
The opening event will take place on Thursday, October 27th, at 7pm-10pm.

Although a quick glance at Dana Yoeli’s work, Through a Glass Darkly, is enough to realize that it is an imaginary theatrical scene, perhaps a scale model or a trick of another kind that combines these two, the eye still wanders, seeking for a structure, looking to establish a certain logic. The gaze scans the objects in a desperate attempt to connect shreds of ruins from the Parthenon, resting upon Doric and Corinthian order columns, backgrounded by a brutalist concrete wall in a modern architectural style. The horror emerges when among to the ruins, the viewer discovers several life-sized fingers as well as a classical sculpture of a nose, next to a miniature replica of the Elgin horse, that same horse that is named not after its creator but rather after Lord Elgin, who tore it from its origin in the Parthenon, and led it into the collection of the British Museum.

Into a 130 square cm space, with a title made of three-words, Yoeli manages to engage in a array of cultural references dated in different periods and disciplines, from theater and cinema through visual arts and architecture, and at the same time pull those out of the context in which we are used to seeing them. When Bergman’s film shares a stage with the ruins of Greek temples and a finger pointing at the horrific damages of colonialism, Yoeli forces us to confront questions regarding the identity of the forces that control the narratives told through these cultural assets. Yoeli signs the work with the words “to err is human”, and what could have been a consolation can also be read as an accusation.

Ya’ara Keydar is a fashion historian and curator. Currently a doctoral student in the Cultural Studies Ph.D. program at Hebrew University, Keydar graduated from the Costume Studies M.A. program at NYU and holds a B.A. with honors in fashion design from Shenkar College. Her recent exhibition “Alber Elbaz: The Dream Factory,” opened in September 2022 at Design Museum Holon. Previously, Keydar curated the museum’s exhibitions “The Ball: Fashion & Escapism,” (2021), which became the museum’s most successful exhibition to date; “New York Fashion Rediscovered,” at ZAZ10TS Gallery in NYC (2020); and “Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz,” at Design Museum Holon (2018). Keydar was a guest speaker at The Jewish Museum in New York, JCC Manhattan, Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, among others. She interned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, as well as the Museum at FIT.

Sahar Shalev is the owner of “Osef” – a store for men’s designer clothing by local designers, a cultural researcher and a journalist.

Jossef Krispel is an artist, painter and the head of the Department of Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, where he has served as a senior lecturer since 2006. He holds both Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees from Bezalel. In his work, Krispel raises questions about the definition and the position of a painting in relation to the painted surface, and suggests seeing it as a mask, a screen, a shell, or a coating. He has been featured in many solo exhibitions in Israel and abroad and won numerous awards; among them the 2008 Rappaport Young Artist Prize and the 2012 Ministry of Culture Award. His paintings are found in many collections.

David Adika is a photographer, artist and the head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. A senior lecturer in the Department of Photography since 1999, he holds Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees from Bezalel. David Adika’s work focuses on the visual and cultural facets of the local Middle Eastern space as a microcosm that reflects his social and family identity. His photographic corpus contains representations of various still life and portraits, blurring the boundaries between abstract conceptual language and lavish visual accuracy. Adika’s visual research explores intimate yet universal biographies, while the photographs unfold familiar and unfamiliar aspects of everyday life and highlight questions of taste and social status. Adika has had many solo exhibitions in Israeli and international venues and won many awards, including the Minister and the Emerging Artist Prizes from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the Jack Nailor Award for Photography. His photographs are included in many collections in Israel and abroad.

A talk with David Adika, Michael Liani and Karmit Galili at David Adika’s exhibition, ‘Of David. A psalm’. The three will discuss the relationship between photography and identity and the way it is reflected in Adika’s and Liani’s body of work.

David Adika (1970) was born in Jerusalem. He lives and works in Tel Aviv-Yafo. Adika is a photographer, artist, and Head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. Adika’s work focuses on the visual and cultural facets of the local Middle Eastern space as a microcosm that reflects his social and family identity. His photographic corpus contains representations of various still life and portraits. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Israel and abroad.

Michael Liani (1987) was born in Migdal HaEmek. He lives and works in Tel Aviv-Yafo. Liani is a multidisciplinary artist, graduated with honors from Bezalel’s master’s degree in arts. Liani creates from a rich inner view, in his photographs and installations he strives to work with and from human behaviors. Liani’s works move on the axis between center and periphery, gender and media aesthetics. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions.

Karmit Galili Director and Curator of Magasin III Jaffa.