Abraham Kritzman

Abraham Kritzman, SMOKING, Jerusalem Artists’ House, Jerusalem, 2020, installation view. Photograph by Elad Sarig.

By means of cutting, fragmentation, and layering, Abraham Kritzman (b. 1983) alludes to various experiences he had in 2015, while wandering and hiking in Piatra Neamț, a city in the Moldavia region of Romania, where his great-grandfather lived years back. During his journey he collected elements, which are woven together to form artworks akin to remnants of myths that carry cultural baggage. That baggage, in turn, functions as a foothold that is tempted to extract a moment of clarity from a dense, tortuous existence.

From these gathered elements, Kritzman extracts forms derived from architectural elements, peeled frescos, and archaeological fragments. He supplements them with new images that function as a visual façade of the "mythic rifts"—transient fractures in the historical continuum, which strive to highlight the fluid, imaginary nature of our reality. These allusions elicit thoughts about situations in which the gathering of information and the multiplicity of data create camouflage and screening, while enabling new stratified images to surface and echo our relation to such notions as memory, experience, and faith.

In Kritzman's work, myth as a literal pattern that enables communication and formation of meaning, becomes visual via profound, increased use of multimedia and exposure of signs whose meaning is revealed only by analyzing their combinations. A sense of variegation thus engulfs his works: indigo on metal, pink and gilded ochre on wood, purple-pearl on clay are all placed together, one atop the other, side by side, making for physical as well as formal observation of the mythical discourse.

Curated by Amit Shemma

Photographs of works by Elad Sarig.

Abraham Kritzman is an artist living and working in Tel Aviv. He is Currently a Lecturer at Bezalel Academy Jerusalem, and teaches in the Tel Aviv Museum workshops in Tel Aviv. He is also a member and curator of Barbur Gallery Jerusalem. Until 2016 he was also a Lecturer at The Visual Art School Kaye College Beersheba. Abarahm has an MA from the Painting Programme at the Royal College of Art (2014). A BFA with honours from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem (2011) including one semester at the UDK Berlin.

Selected solo / 2 person shows:  Artists’ House Jerusalem, Danielle Arnaud Gallery London, Hezi Cohen Gallery Tel Aviv, Kav 16 Gallery Tel Aviv, News of the World Gallery London, Atelier 35 Bucharest, Elizabeth Xi Bauer, London, The Artists House Tel Aviv, Saint Mary Aldemary London and in Kayma Gallery Jaffa.

Selected group exhibitions include: SMAC South Africa, Ashdod Art Museum, The Negev Museum of Art Beer Sheva, Barbur Gallery, Benjamin Gallery, Elizabeth XI Bauer London, Blyth Gallery London, Arebyte Gallery London, Alfred Gallery, Bar David Museum Bar Am, Hanina Gallery Tel Aviv,  Graduate Prize Show London, The Artist Studios Talpyot, The Artists House Tel Aviv, The New Gallery in Teddy, Artist’s Studios Jerusalem, Idris Tel Aviv and Artspace Tel Aviv, Beit Binyanini Tel Aviv.

Prizes and awards include: The Ministry Of Culture Award For Young Artist; Clore – Bezalel Scholarship for MA at the Royal College Of Art London; the Villiers David Travel Award from the Royal College of Art, Excellence Award for Achievements from Bezalel dep. of Fine Art; Milgat Leejay Levene Art Scholarship; the History and Theory Excellence Award from Bezalel; the Aileen Cooper Prize; The Herman Struk Prize for printmaking. 

Residencies: ODD Bucharest, Arebyte London, Kav 16 gallery Tel Aviv.

Under The Blanket (Lotus), 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cmSOLD

Under The Blanket (Medusa), 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

Mad Legs, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

Mar Legs, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

Forelli Left Behind, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

Forelli In The Sky, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

The Ravine Left, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

The Ravine Right, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

The Vortex R, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

The Vortex L, 2019Oil on wood40 x 30cm£1700

Leviathan L, 2020Oil on canvas40 x 30cm£1700

Leviathan R, 2020Oil on canvas40 x 30cm£1700

Ashomon (hand), 2019Ceramics16 x 18 x 10cm£1500

Ashomon (leopard), 2019Ceramics20 x 24 x 3cm£1500

Ashomon (smoke), 2019Ceramics20 x 24 x 3cm£1500

Traian’s Smoke (ashes), 2019Ceramics38 x 35 x 3cm£1500

Traian’s Smoke (flowers), 2019Ceramics38 x 35 x 3cm£1500

Traian’s Smoke (mud), 2019Ceramics45 x 37 x 3cm£1500

Traian’s Smokes in the clouds (fences), 2019Ceramics30 x 30 x 3cm£1500

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