Dateline Israel: New Photography and Video Art

by Susan Tumarkin Goodman, Andy Grundberg and Nissan N. Perez

 

What can art tell us about Israel today? How does an artist come to terms with the disturbing realities in Israel--violence, political instability, insecurity and social discrimination? These questions are at the heart of Dateline Israel: New Photography and Video Art, a compelling volume that presents photographs and videos of Israel from the diverse outlooks of nearly two dozen international artists. These images reveal the intensity of life there, as well as the artists' profound personal responses to Israeli life and culture. What is revealed is a complicated view of Israel that has evolved out of the utopian model of an earlier era. In three insightful essays, the contributors explore the role of art and artists in contemporary Israel. Susan Tumarkin Goodman examines the aesthetic and political underpinnings of lens-based art made in Israel; Andy Grundberg discusses the roots of Israeli photography and video, and places them in an international context; and Nissan N. Perez offers an insider's view of the cultural issues that affect the practice of art in Israel today. Featured artists include: Yael Bartana (Israeli, lives in Amsterdam, b. 1970) Rineke Dijkstra (Dutch, b. 1959) Barry Frydlender (Israeli, b. 1954) Ori Gersht (Israeli, lives in London, b. 1967) Noel Jabbour (Palestinian, lives in Nazareth and Berlin, b. Nazareth, 1970) Miki Kratsman (Israeli, b. Argentina, 1959) Wolfgang Tillmans (German, lives in London, b. 1968) Mark Wallinger (British, b. 1959) Wim Wenders (German, lives in Los Angeles and Berlin, b. 1945) Sharon Ya'ari (Israeli, b. 1966) Susan Goodman is senior curator at The Jewish Museum, Andy Grundberg is chair of the photography department at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and Nissan N. Perez is Horace and Grace Goldsmith Senior Curator of Photography at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.