In-Relation

Braverman Gallery cordially invites you to the opening of In-Relation, a group show of Nezaket Ekici and Shahar Marcus.
Opens Saturday,October 20th 2012, 8pm
Live performance at 8:30 pm
Drinks courtesy of Shapiro Beer

In-Relation is a unique video-performance-installation project, which is the result of two artists’ collaboration: Nezaket Ekici and Shahar Marcus. The project includes videos and performance-installation that explore time, space, culture and religion. Both artists are internationally known Performance artists, using their bodies as vessels to express themselves in space and time in order to display the positive influence of cultural differences.
The video-performance Sand Clock is shot in the Israeli desert. The collaboration of the native and the foreign artist create a mutual art work, which contains a refreshing perspective onto the desert landscape and its meaning. Both artists perform in the video along side of a group of 10 performers of different ages, cultural and religious backgrounds. The performers stand in the desert like sculptures, appearing as human sand clocks. Most deserts are created due to climate changes. If water is absent from the land over a long period, desertification occurs naturally. A desert is a product of nature with a history of change and can be seen as a symbol for life itself – being born, living and dying.
In Methexis, a video performance by Nezaket Ekici, the “Dead Sea” is the starting point. Directed with her face down, the artist is floating in an oversized white dress. Her hair and her arms are spread out, visibly lying motionless on the water. On her dress, white flying balloons are attached. This creates the illusion that the artist is held floating above the water as if the balloons are lifting her body towards the sky, indicating a life after death. Poetically she is in between this world and another, pulled down by gravity and at the same time levitated by the balloons: on the border between life and death. The Dead Sea’s name comes from the high salt concentration in the waters, making life almost entirely impossible. By doubling the symbolic importance of the Dead Sea combined with the death-like floating on the water, the artist makes visible the idea of transcendence that is inherent in the Dead Sea.
In the video salt&ever, Shahar Marcus is walking in a business suit on the Dead Sea water. The image is referring to Jesus who walked on the water in the Sea of Galilee. But instead of the sweet water the walk is on salty water which creates the illusion of floating and emphasizes the contradiction between the successful suit and the symbols of freeze and death.
Salt dinner video performance, shows both artists sharing a table of food on the dead sea wavy waters. Their “post-death” picnic is an ironic perspective on the symbolism of death and religion that were present in other collaborative works in the project.
The Live Performance-Installation Floating Ourselves will be performed at the Gallery’s white cube space with the participation of only the two artists. This live act is related to the other works in the Project. The same elements like time, body, space, as well as culture and religion are included in this performance Installation.

Shahar Marcus (born in Israel, 1971) is an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily in video, performance and sculpture. In his works he relates his body to organic and perishable materials, such as dough, bread, juice or ice. His relationship to the materials examines the position and the role of his body as both human and creator. His choice of perishables likewise highlights the nature of art and life. Marcus had exhibited in many exhibitions around the world including The Tate Modern in London, The Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum in Israel, The Charlottenburg Kunsthhalle in Copenhagen, The Moscow and Poznan Biennales and other venues in Germany France, Italy and USA.
Nezaket Ekici‘s (born in Turkey, 1970, works and lives in Germany since 1973) performances, installations, and videos are inspired by her bi-cultural background, German and Turkish, and relates to a narrative of art history while inspired from daily life situations. She studied performance art under Marina Abramovic at Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Braunschweig and her works have been shown internationally since 2000 (Selection): the 50th Venice Biennale  (2003), P.S.1 New York (2004), Art Fair ART FORUM Berlin, ART FRANKFURT (2004), Proje4L Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, (2005); Venice Biennale (2007); Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (2007); 5th Latin-American Biennal of Visual Arts Vento Sul, Curitiba, Brasil (2009).

Links to the videos on Vimeo:
Salt&Ever
Salt Dinner
Sand Clock
Methexis