TAP and TOUCH

Opening event: 20 September, 8pm

Curator: Adi Gura

TAP and TOUCH features works by current prominent Israeli female artists: Anisa Ashkar, Yael Bartana, Bracha L. Ettinger, Sigalit Landau, Tal Mazliach, Nira Pereg, Michal Rovner and Maya Zack. The group show casts light on female creation, while focusing on works centered around the body from a geographical as well as a conceptual standpoint.

In the late 1960s, the artist VALIE EXPORT introduced a performance titled Tapp und TastKino (Tap and Touch Cinema) in which she wears a “movie theater” around her naked torso, covered by a small curtain. In this performance, the artist walked around Vienna and invited women and men to touch her. The audience’s response to this event was complete panic ­– the possibility of touching a female naked body, although not visible, was taboo. This experience, in contrast to seeing nudity on screen, allowed for a discussion on the complex relationship between viewing and participation, and the objecthood of the female image.

The various ways in which the participating artists of TAP and TOUCH treat the body put further light on the recent awareness to the abuse of power. Each work in the exhibition suggests a way of resistance and is an expression of a singular angle. As a whole, the show creates a space where different gestures, actions, and expressions highlight relevant current issues.