Eliyahu Fatal, Rafał Jakubowicz - Unfinished Business
Eliyahu Fatal, Rafał Jakubowicz - Unfinished Business
Exhibition opening: 9.04.2022
Exhibition on view: 9.04-18.06.2022
The exhibition “Unfinished Business” is an encounter between Eliyahu Fatal and Rafał Jakubowicz: artists who have known each other and collaborated for years. It presents two approaches to the exploration of the Hebrew language in the context of contemporary conceptual art.
Eliyahu Fatal’s poem in the form of a spatial installation entitled "Melting Symbol" stems from a fascination with words and the great potential of language as generator of meanings and interpretations, as a tool, and as a conveyor of content. In referencing the shapes of letters, Fatal reflects on the polysemic capacity of words. He draws from various traditions to combine fonts, typefaces, and handwriting. In effect, he confronts the audience with clichéd symbols and associations and makes them experience a juxtaposition between the comprehensible and the incomprehensible, the sacred and the profane, the permanent and the transient. He orchestrates a game between letters and writing in which every single thing references something other than itself.
In "Blood and Ink", Rafał Jakubowicz references ספר האות (pronounced “Sefer ha-Ot”), The Book of the Sign by Rabbi Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia, completed in 1288. Jakubowicz transposes an excerpt from this work into the context of contemporary art because he is interested in the conceptual potential of Kabbalah when applied to text. The proximity of the methods developed by the Kabbalistic tradition to the post-conceptual strategies means that a work of art using the Hebrew language and inspired by the Jewish mystical tradition can be read on different levels: as a work of conceptual art and as a work demanding familiarity with Judaism. Jakubowicz refers to his practice as Kabbalistic conceptualism.
Besides appreciating the multidimensionality of Hebrew, whose words have multiple meanings and uses, the two artists also share an interest in gematria. By assigning a numerical value to each letter, gematria sharpens the complex meaning of the reality being read.
Eliyahu Fatal, born in 1974 in Israel (in his homeland known as Eli Petel), is a reknowned interdisciplinary artist working in the field of conceptual art. In 2000, he graduated with honours from the Faculty of Arts at Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem, where he has been a lecturer since 2002. From 2011 to 2019, he served as head of the Art Department at his alma mater.
Eliyahu Fatal's solo exhibitions were presented, among others, at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2007, 2006), Dvir Gallery (2009, 2003), Artists' Studios and Kav 16 Gallery (2005) in Tel Aviv (2001), City Gallery, Artists' House in Jerusalem, Bat Yam Museum (2020), FIAC, Paris (2005) oraz AJU, Los Angeles (2018).
He has participated in many group exhibitions in Israel and abroad, including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (2008), ICA Philadelphia (2011), Martin-Gropius-Bau (2005) and the Jewish Museum in Berlin (2009), the Haifa Museum of Art (2011, 2021). In Poland, Eliyahu Fatal's work has so far been presented at the Labirynt Gallery in Lublin (2018) and the Wrocław Contemporary Museum (2015).
Eliyahu Fatal is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Dizengoff Prize (2005), the Rappaport Prize for Young Artist (2007), the Ministry of Culture Award (2009) and many others.
His works are in the collections of Tel-Aviv Museum, Israel Museum, Haifa Museum, Ashdod Museum, ORS collection, Leumi Bank collection, Hafenix collection, Paris City collection.
Rafał Jakubowicz, born in 1974 in Poznań. Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Since 2000 lecturer at the University of Arts in Poznań, currently works as Associate Professor of UAP, leading the Studio of Art in Social Space. Since 2013-2016 lecturer at The Department of Asian Studies (Section of Hebrew, Aramaic and Karaim Studies) of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Published writings in periodicals, art magazines and exhibition catalogues. Since 2005 the member of AICA (International Association of Art Critics). Since 2015 the member of IKG (Internationales Künstlergremium). Since 2017 the member of scientific board of ‘New Criticism’, Polish periodical of philosophy. Rafał Jakubowicz has had numerous solo shows in, among others: Foksal Gallery, Warsaw (2004, 2005); Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; Entropia Gallery, Wrocław (2002, 2004, 2006); Atlas Sztuki, Łódź; Platán Galeria, Budapest (2007); BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra (2008); Pies Gallery, Poznań (2005, 2009, 2010); WRO Art Center, Wrocław (2010); Habeer Art and Visual Media Center, Beer-Sheva (2013); City Art Center, Gorzów Wielkopolski (2018). The artist has participated in many group exhibitions in Poland and abroad including: The National Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2005); Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2014, 2015, 2016); ZAMEK Culture Center, Poznań (2005); Kunstverein, Wolfsburg (2005); Królikarnia, Division of the National Museum in Warsaw (2006); Kunstverein, Heidelberg (2006); The Łaźnia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk (2008); Socio-Political Contemporary Art Museum, Jerusalem (2008); Freies Museum, Berlin (2009); Kunstraum Kreuzberg/ Bethanien/ Studio 1, Berlin (2011); MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art, Cracow (2012, 2015); TRAFO | Trafostation Centre of Contemporary Art, Szczecin (2019); National Museum, Cracow (2019); City Gallery Arsenal, Poznań (2014, 2020). His works are part of the collection of: Zacheta - National Gallery of Art in Warsaw; Lower Silesian Society of Zacheta Fine Arts in Wrocław; Wrocław Contemporary Museum; Zacheta Contemporary Art Collection, Szczecin; City Gallery Arsenal, Poznań.
Exhibition related to the realisation of Rafał Jakubowicz's theme, entitled "Hebrew Language in the Art of Conceptual and Post-Conceptual Artists in Israel", within the framework of statutory research of the Department of Art Education and Curating at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of Arts in Poznań, funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for science in 2016/2021 as a research project.