Roy Brand is a philosopher and curator working at the intersection of contemporary philosophy and art. He is a senior lecturer in the Master’s programs of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and Tel-Aviv University. He founded and directed Yaffo 23, a center for contemporary art, and he is editor and curator of numerous art exhibits, among them, The Urburb: Patterns of Contemporary Living (Israeli Pavilion of The Venice Biennial, 2014) and Bare Life (Museum on the Seam, 2007).
His book LoveKnowledge: The Life of Philosophy from Socrates to Derrida, was published in 2013 by Columbia University Press. His book Art and the Form of Life was published in 2021 by Palgrave Macmillan. He is the founder and director of Parterre Projects for Art and Philosophy in Tel-Aviv.
Founder & director
Roy Brand
Concept, design, and art consultant
Keren Yeala Golan
So what is Parterre?
Almost everyone who walks in asks us: what is this place?
Well… it depends whom you ask.
We wanted to create a cabinet of curiosities (we didn’t know that at the beginning), a space where one can dive into the fields that interest us — philosophy, art, literature, design, music.
A place where people feel comfortable, as though they’ve come to visit us at home. A place where you feel free to walk in, open a book, look at art, study philosophy, listen to a lecture, converse, linger, gaze, and generate new dialogues. To our delight, fascinating collaborations are already taking place.
An art project space — simply a place where artists can exhibit. There are far too few spaces like this. Artists at different stages of their careers, working in various media and coming from diverse backgrounds. All this, unlike the model of a commercial gallery representing specific artists, or institutional spaces.
Art as part of life — art should be accessible and available to everyone. It gives soul and stirs our feelings and senses; it adds value to our lives and to the spaces where we spend most of our time. A space without art feels sad and empty to me. We wanted to make art accessible at eye level. The works are not shown in a museum or a white cube, but in something quite close to home — an apartment.
Supporting creators and the art market — a place where one can purchase works by Israeli artists across a wide range of prices. This is the only way to support and develop artistic creation in this country. We have wonderful artists, and when the art market is active, they can create and earn a living — simply because someone loved the work. Without the illusion of and dependence on prizes, grants, institutional support, or the same five collectors. We want to dissolve the distance and the anxiety around prices; all information is transparent to everyone. We assist and advise both first-time buyers and experienced collectors — accessible.
A few words about architecture and design… Parterre is located on the ground floor of the iconic Workers’ Housing buildings designed by Arieh Sharon in the 1930s. The space faces an inner courtyard — a green and quiet island in the heart of bustling Tel Aviv.
The approach to the renovation was to bring it as close as possible to the original, beautiful International Style design, preserving its clarity, simplicity, and architectural cleanliness.