CONGLOMERATE

Conglomerate: a blend of the Greek words “con” (together) and “glomer” (ball)

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The individual and the collective, like a conglomerate stone of bits of rock that have rolled together in the dust of the desert. Like a bird that builds its nest from local materials, yet no two nests will be alike: each self-standing, but part of a larger whole. The same is true for the artists brought together in this exhibition. Each creates within their own personal world and studio, but toils side by side in the artists’ colony of Zuqim, in the middle of the Arava. On show here is the output of a group of curious and observant individuals living in a small village in the heart of the desert, whose search is driven by the past, as well as by their encounters with the here and now, with the present day. 

  

For the opening exhibition of Ashosh Gallery, we have chosen to showcase local artists, members of the artists’ colony, and examine how the conglomerate offers a common language and sets up unexpected dialogues between the pieces. On the surface, the differences would seem to outweigh the similarities, with such an array of materials: wool, wood, stone, clay, paint, metal, Concrete,  palm fronds, twigs from grapevines, beads—alongside a broad range of techniques, from sculpture, narrative painting, and pop art, to crafts such as ceramics, carpentry, welding, felting, and basket-weaving. 

 

However, in addition to the differences, a local lexicon is created:  a wealth of browns and blues, elements gathered from the desert, visual motifs inspired by the landscape, an inner reflection translated into art as the hand touches and leaves its imprint on the material. For these artists, the desert becomes a space that engenders creativity, a fertile ground for those who wander there, sometimes stemming from the inside out, and sometimes from the outside in.

 

The works in this show offer but a taste of the rich world of each artist, and invite viewers to delve deeper and visit the creative spaces of those presenting here, as well as beyond the gallery walls.