Bakery

Magen

Dor Zlekha Levy

Curator: Adi Gura

The work Magen by Dor Zlekha Levy was commissioned especially for the Bakery space. In recent years, Zlekha Levy works in the space between projected image, sound and performance. The work at the Bakery space originated from a series of photographs, which was taken in Lebanon and was personally handed to the artist.

The photographs depict the synagogue Magen Abraham, located in the heart of Beirut, where the Jewish quarter once was. Since its building in 1925 and up to the depletion and subsequent extinction of the Jewish population in Beirut, the synagogue functioned as a central meeting point for the Jewish people of the city and the country. It was bombarded by the Israeli Defense Forces in summer 1982, during the first Lebanon war. The photographs included in the show were taken ten years ago, documenting the building before the renovation and conservation process it recently went through, founded by the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

Zlekha Levy processed the various images into static projections spread through the room, as if echoing the space of the synagogue inside the gallery. The movement of the spectator through the space activates the work and charges it with meaning, in a way which produces a concrete place. Zlekha Levy casts the image onto the space, and in turn this image casts itself on the viewer, thus allowing its characteristics, as well as the qualities of the space, to initiate the movement of the spectator inside the work. The narratives present in Zlekha Levy’s works do not delve in the past and in how it is perceived in the present, but rather explore the manner in which the appearance of the ruins of the past, its fragments and pieces form together a coherent, new space.

Dor Zlekha Levy (b. 1990). Born and works in Tel Aviv. Graduated with dean’s honors from the media department in Hamidrasha Beit-Berl Faculty of the Arts. Selected group exhibitions: The Ticho house museum, Jerusalem; Pasaz Gallery, Tel Aviv; Binyamin Gallery, Tel aviv; the spaceship gallery, Tel Aviv; Gebo Gallery, Gross Gallery, ‘Night light’ festival and others. His films were projected in international festivals and screenings, among them are Ars Electronica, Linz; Moyen Orient Express, Paris. ekha Levy is the winner of Zoom 2016 prize for young Israeli artist. In 2014, Dor recieved the AICF Hurvitz scholarship for graduate students in the arts, and Hamidrasha Ruth Schloss award for excellent socio-political artwork. His Projects were granted by the European cultural foundation, The Rabinovich Foundation and Tel Aviv municipality grant for special projects in arts. His works are held in the collection of The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and in private collections.