Doaa Badran draws and sculpts female deities before the rise of male-monotheism, Yuli Serfaty creates a virtual tour of the Dead Sea area through modeling a landscape that is both wounded and sublime, Cheli Jusewitz casts concrete in the earth of her native Kfar Chabad, creating minimalistic stone sculptures, and Katerina Tolkovsky paints abstract landscapes in layers that cover and reveal an archiac past which is still beating. 

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Parterre Projects is delighted to invite you to the opening of the exhibition "Parterra" (on or of the earth), featuring four female artists whose works were exhibited in the Autonomous Biennale of Art. This time, the exhibition is intimate in fitting with the nature of the space and the location of Parterre -in the inner garden of the historic workers’ housing at 37 Frishman Street. 

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The medium of the works (painting, sculpture, video, and drawing) is very different, but they share a common interest in tracing inner states through sensory movement in matter. In a subtle yet expressive way, they indicate the connection between ecological and political enviornment and the sensual experience of a living body. In contrast to land art and male dominated minimalism, these works do not penetrate or cover nature and the fragility of the body, but rather expresses its beauty as well as its fragility and ephemerality.

 

Cheli Jusewitz

Cheli Jusewitz instsallations are made of sandstone that she casts in the ground of her native Kfar Chabad. The outer part takes on the color and texture of the earth, while the inner part, like an egg cut in half, remains white and fragile. The artist chooses to emphasize architectural elements such as floor tiles or to use a stone statue to connect to one of the pillars, such that it stands out and is present and at the same time is absorbed and hidden. Jusewitz’s works seem to grow naturally from the environment where they are placed, while preserving some kind of strangeness or separateness from that environment. 

Cheli Jusewitz was born in 2000 in Kfar Chabad. She lives in Kfar Chabad and works in Jerusalem. 

 

Kat Tolkovsky

At night, in a particular state of consciousness, Tolkovsky gazed at cave paintings. The gaze transgresses her imagination. She felt as if she were actually present there, and as this came at a moment when she was unprepared, she was in ecstasy. Similar to the cave paintings, Tolkovssky’s work explores the vast specturm of states of consciousness. Her technique, which includes layering, covering and exposing of paint on canvas creates the feeling of an historic wall-painting that was reveled and restor. This is a process that attempts to preserve the nighttime awareness, to remain within it and to connect to it.

 

Kat Tolkovsky was born in 1991 in Jerusalem. She lives and works in Tel Aviv.

 

Doaa Bardan 

This large drawing on paper is part of a series of works exploring ancient femal divinities, in charge of fertility and nourisment. In ancient times, the Arabs worshiped idols made of every material possible. They made a god from "Ajwa" (dates), whom they believed would grant them help, protection, safety, and security. But in times of famine, they ate their god, saying "In a time of famine, what use is there for a god made of dates?" The ancient Arabs found one benefit in their date god: it filled their empty stomachs. But after thousands of years, we realized too late that the gods we create today (political and social idols, etc.) brought no benefit. We had lost faith in the gods we made, and our punishment is the inability to eat them. 

 

Doaa Badran was born in 1993 in Kabul, Western Galilee. She lives and works in Haifa.

 

Yuli Serfaty

A Guided Tour of Steady States (Video, 4K), 2021, 44min

Steady States is an interactive digital environment depicting the Israeli Dead Sea, surrounding desert, and their contested water politics. The visitors are invited to virtually cruise this primal and geopolitical landscape, moving from a sublime vista to a landslide that reveals the intensive human intervention and use of the surroundings. The work is comprised of a map with three starting points, which Serfaty views as guided tours, and includes Inward, Rift and Above. Each tour examines a different political element of the landscape. In the interactive version, the spectators are invited to select whichever starting point they wish. In the course of the tour, they are free to traverse the map, and will be guided by a voiceover at set times. 

 

Yuli Serfaty was born in 1992 in Tel Aviv. She lives and works in London.

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