With her works, Yael Bartana undermines reality and questions the completeness of each and every statement. Through ambiguous irony, she parodies the stereotypes and common clich\u00e9s of the dominant value system. In her films and installations, the artist often uses old image codes from the language of power and propaganda. Breaking up content and form and tearing them out of their familiar context, she breathes new life into these codes, updating them and transforming them into timeless formulas.<\/p>\n
Bartana\u2019s neon work Crisis\u00a0 \u2013 Crysis \u2013 Crycis, <\/em>newly created for Diversity United,<\/em> is a playful demonstration of imaginary and alternative etymological origins to a term that has become a banal clich\u00e9 in recent times. Phonetically dismantling the term, she alludes to the original Greek meaning of the word, krisis<\/em>, which means a turning point that could lead to both a catastrophe and an opportunity. Doing so, the work touches upon notions of foreignness, calling for solidarity within marginalised communities and demanding a revaluation of patriarchal values. Bartana\u2019s pointed message fits into our crisis-ridden world in which the word \u2018crisis\u2019 seems to be the only important one.<\/p>\n FB<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Yael Bartana<\/strong>\u202d (\u202cborn Israel\u202d, \u202c1970\u202d) \u202cis an observer of the contemporary and a pre-enactor\u202d. \u202cShe employs art as a scalpel inside the mechanisms of power structures and navigates the fine and crackled line between the sociological and the imagination\u202d. \u202cOver the past twenty years\u202d, \u202cshe has dealt with some of the dark dreams of the collective unconscious and reactivated the collective imagination\u202d, \u202cdissected group identities and\u202d (\u202can\u202d-)\u202caesthetic means of persuasion\u202d. \u202cIn her films\u202d, \u202cinstallations\u202d, \u202cphotographs\u202d, \u202cstaged performances and public monuments Yael Bartana investigates subjects like national identity\u202d, \u202ctrauma\u202d, \u202cand displacement\u202d, \u202coften through ceremonies\u202d, \u202cmemorials\u202d, \u202cpublic rituals and collective gatherings\u202d.\u202c<\/span><\/p>\n Her work has been exhibited worldwide\u202d, \u202cand is represented in the collections of many museums\u202d, \u202cincluding the Museum of Modern Art\u202d, \u202cNew York\u202d; \u202cthe Tate Modern\u202d, \u202cLondon\u202d; \u202cand the Centre Pompidou\u202d, \u202cParis\u202d. \u202cShe currently lives and works in Berlin and Amsterdam\u202d. \u202c<\/span><\/p>\n