URI KATZENSTEIN:
YOU NEVER KNOW
SOLO SHOW
January 31 - June 10, 2019
10 TIMES SQUARE
1441 Broadway, New York, NY 10018
ZAZ10TS and Artis present a joint exhibition, YOU NEVER KNOW, celebrating the artistic contributions of the late Israeli artist Uri Katzenstein.
Uri Katzenstein focused his artistic expression on video projects and installations in the latter stages of his career. Using video allowed him to incorporate other elements from his repertoire such as sculpture, performance art and music. His video pieces, including several in the YOU NEVER KNOW exhibition, were often provocative, violent, profane and purposely confusing. Stories he told though video related to the juxtaposition of opposites such as the real and surreal, humanity and non-human objects, and relationships between disparate concepts and experiences.
Mirroring the complexities and layers of life, Uri Katzenstein’s videos mixed linear storytelling with bursts of images and vignettes. He created videos to raise more questions than answers, shunning obvious clarity.
Uri Katzenstein is also credited with founding a new language called “Backyard font,” developed to depict the English language graphically. “You Never Know” Is a phrase that entered Uri Katzenstein’s art realm through a collaboration between Uri Katzenstein and Uri Levinson. The collaborative artwork consisted of fusing together a work by Uri Levinson and the language created by Uri Katzenstein during Katzenstein’s “Backyard” exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum.
Uri Katzenstein, untitled, 2013-2015
Backyard exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of art
אני אוהב קלקול. הקלקול הוא הכלכלה והאסטרטגיה הראשונית שלי, לעבוד מהמקום שלא עובד, מהמקום שבו הוכחת לעצמך שוב ושוב שקיים בך חוסר יכולת.אלה הדברים שהם מחוסרי יכולת, זניחים, כמו עשבים רעים שצומחים מאחורי סלעים, אבל הרבה מהם זה צמחי מרפא. כל מה שלכאורה אין לו תכלית, אבל יש לו הרבה פעמים תכלית מאוד עמוקה. וזה דבר שנמצא גם בעבודה שלי. אני מעוניין לקחת אותך למסע שהוא דיכוטומי, הוא גם מהנה וגם מזוויע,. גם אפוקליפטי וגם ראשוני, פרימיטי
“I love to work with the spoilage...These are the things that are incompetent, negligible, like bad roots that grow behind stones, but a lot can come from them like healing plants. Everything that ostensibly has no purpose, but over time can have a very deep purpose. And this is the concept that is in my work. I am interested in taking you on a journey that is dichotomy, is also enjoyable but also horrible, apocalyptic and primary, and primitive.“ — Uri Katzenstein
CROSS BORDER INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
Along with the YOU NEVER KNOW exhibition in New York, ZAZ10TS and Artis will collaborate with groups to produce a series of international events celebrating Uri Katzenstein.
January 15, 2019 - University of Haifa held an event through its Department of Fine Art. Learn More
February 2019 – The Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam presented a special event commemorating its past Uri Katzenstein exhibition.
March 2019 – ZAZ10TS and Artis will present a moderated panel in New York City on Uri Katzenstein’s lasting artistic and cultural impact, featuring noted curators and artists.
April 2019 - Mishkenot Shaananim hosted with a panel of guest speakers including Sharon Balaban, Ronit Eden, Ohad Fishof, and Thalia Hoffman. Event Photo Here
June 2019 – Tel Aviv Museum of Art will hold a special evening event in the museum’s Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art.
