Residence and a Neighboring Ear of Grain

Artists: Roni Hajaj
Curator: Dveer Shaked

The solo exhibition by artist Roni Hajaj at Koresh 14 Gallery will present groups of Hajaj’s sculptures, sound works and paintings, like the edges of icebergs representing depths that stretch beyond the gallery space and into the depths of the earth, the deep ocean abysses, and the vast heights of the sky. The paintings, sound works, and sculptures, made from sponges and discarded objects that Hajaj collected around the gallery, all hint at stories that are suggested only subtly, allowing visitors to find themselves within the works. In an installation that throws the viewer into an aesthetic of Zen gardens and meditation on one side, and archaeological sites and ruins on the other, the poetics of the works reside in both the small details and the whole together. Visitors are invited to wander among the sounds, objects, and paintings, dive with them into the depths of consciousness, and float with them into awareness, weaving invisible threads between the works and their own inner world. 

For the paintings featured in the exhibition, Hajaj used intense colors, direct materiality, and a geometric language based on cuts, angles, and formal patterns. Through the use of deconstruction, assembly, and distortion of shapes and images, the paintings explore questions of fluidity and change in identity, gender, and sexuality, challenging notions of stability and permanence. 

His sculptural and installation works develop through a dialogue with the gallery space and its surroundings. Hajaj uses industrial materials, everyday objects, and materials collected from the environment, reassembling them into new spatial systems. 

Added to all this is sound, which is an integral part of Hajaj’s artistic practice. He works with analog synthesizers and sound materials created through improvisation, repetition, and continuous change. Similar to his visual work, he treats sound as raw material — something that can be shaped, deconstructed, and reconstructed in real time. His sound work, together with the visual pieces, comes together into spatial environments aimed at activating the space and creating a dialogue between material, sound, and presence. 

On the occasion of the exhibition opening, Hajaj will present a live ambient-noise performance inside the gallery, based on real-time improvisation using analog synthesizers and drum machines which will resonate with the sound works in the exhibition, expand on them, activate the space, and create a dialogue between material, sound, and presence.