Micha Bar-Am
dal 2/5/2007 al 28/6/2007
Segnalato da
2/5/2007
Micha Bar-Am
Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York
A selection of pictures of dignitaries: a contemplative Golda Meir flying in a helicopter over Sinai, Moshe Dayan at the Kalandya Refugee Camp in the West Bank in 1967, and a candid shot of a wounded Ariel Sharon crossing the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. Additionally, there will be several portraits of celebrities such as Isaac Beshevis Singer and Marc Chagall.
Solo show
Bar-Am, who immigrated to Israel (then Palestine) from Berlin with his family in
1936, has been the country's preeminent photographer since 1956, responsible for
capturing iconic images of Israel to be seen by the rest of the world. Friend and
colleague Cornell Capa has described Bar-Am's photographs as "those of a man of
integrity, conscience, and courage. They provide eloquent and powerful testimony of
a half-century of Israel's tumultuous existence, where those qualities of true
witness are indispensable."
The exhibition offers a compelling selection of
Bar-Am's photographs spanning over fifty years. Bar-Am's long and productive career
has been about the imagery of Israel - it's history, people, and land; the
photographs underscore Bar-Am's role as constant witness and the sensitivity with
which he has chronicled his surroundings. Images of hostages returning from Entebbe
are imbued with a tender human quality, as is that of a family forced to wear
gasmasks in their own home during the Gulf War. A 1982 photograph of Taba Beach offers an amusing
look at the multi-cultural nature of life in Israel -- half-nude bathers are
approached by fully clad Bedouins, camel and goats in tow, attempting to sell their
wares.
Included in the exhibition is a selection of pictures of dignitaries: a
contemplative Golda Meir, flying in a helicopter over Sinai; Moshe Dayan at the
Kalandya Refugee Camp in the West Bank in 1967; and a candid shot of a wounded Ariel
Sharon crossing the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. Additionally, there will
be several portraits of celebrities such as Isaac Beshevis Singer and Marc Chagall.
Micha Bar-Am has been with Magnum since 1968. He was the Middle East photographic
correspondent for the New York Times from 1968 to 1992 and a founding member of the
International Center of Photography in New York. He established the photography
department at the Tel Aviv Museum in 1977, which he headed until 1992. Bar-Am is a
recipient of the Robert Capa / David Seymour Award and was awarded the Israel Prize
for the Visual Arts in 2000 for his "lifelong covering of the social and cultural
scene in Israel and its ongoing conflicts with a critical eye and an indelible
style."
An opening reception
will be held for the artist on Thursday, May 3rd, from 6 to 8 PM.
Andrea Meislin Gallery
526 West 26th Street - New York