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7/9/2011

Tal Shochat

Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York

Andrea Meislin Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new photography by Tal Shochat, In Praise of a Dream. Upon entering the Gallery, visitors will be transported to a utopian garden rich with flowering trees. Shochat's series of photographs captures these trees – plum, fig, cypress, palm and others – in the height of their beauty and fertility. Outside of the constraints of time and space, Shochat's is a garden that blooms eternally. Opening reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, September 8th from 6 - 8 pm.

Using a rigorous process, Shochat begins with scouring an area for a particular type of tree. Once she's found her ideal specimen, she watches carefully and judges when the tree has reached the height of its maturity. Only then does she return with a black backdrop and, after carefully cleaning the branches and leaves, photographs the tree in this idealized and de-contextualized setting. In this sense, each tree becomes the most perfect expression of itself and the entire collection is one that could never exist in nature. In the words of curator and art critic Ktzia Alon, it is a "hypnotizing, fiercely beautiful series."

Beyond the garden scene of these works, Shochat's series also speaks to the fundamental shift in values that has taken place over the last few years in relationship to the natural world. The Earth's power has been exhausted by its privatization and the expropriation from the hands of the many for the benefit of the few. In Praise of a Dream preserves the power and the beauty of these trees and presents them to a larger audience through the gallery space.

Shochat's photographs gain additional relevance in light of the activities currently happening in Israel and particularly the desire for a government with greater focus on the needs of its citizens. Against the backdrop of this protest, Shochat's trees stand out in their simple intensity. These trees serve as a reminder of ideals worth fighting for and they make a profound statement with a simple icon: the tree.

In Praise of a Dream is Shochat's second solo exhibition at Andrea Meislin Gallery. She is a noted photographer and teacher in Israel and has had solo shows at Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv, Herzliya Museum of Art and Haifa Museum of Art. Her work is in important collections including The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and The Shpilman Institute of Photography, Tel Aviv.

Opening September 8th, 6 - 8 pm

Andrea Meislin Gallery
526 West 26th Street, Suite 214 - New York
Gallery Hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 6 pm
free entry

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