Mani House Exhibition
One, Two and… Three
Selected Israeli artists from the three Herzliya Biennial exhibitions
Mani House was built in 1910 by Jaffabased businessman Shlomo Barsky, and was one of the first residential houses of Ahuzat Bayit neighborhood, which later evolved into the city ofTel Aviv. In 1930 the house was sold to the Honorable Justice Isaac Malkiel Mani, who was the first Jewish judge in the supreme court of the British Mandate government inPalestine and whose name the house still carries to this day.
The unique, two-story house, built of limestone in the tradition ofJaffa's residential homes, was designated for preservation and underwent an extended renovation process, which was completed in 2003. The restoration encompassed various architectural details such as the painted floor tiles and ornate ceilings.
Family residential homes with exceptional architectural features which were converted into museums became a global phenomenon. Museum Haus Lange and Museum Haus Esters in Krefeld, Germany, both designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the Bauhaus style, were later converted into contemporary art museums; The Louisiana Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark previously served as a private residence and was even named after the owner's three wives; and similarly, Mani House nowadays houses changing contemporary art exhibitions.
Most of the artists exhibited here have participated in one of the three Herzliya Biennials for Contemporary Art. The inclusion of their contemporary works in the restored building creates a link between old and new, tradition and modernity, nostalgic and contemporary.
The current show in Mani House seeks to evoke the house's original features as a residential home; it presents works of art that allude to its domestic character such as Ido Bar-El's table alongside Elisheva Levy's paper shoes and guitar. The works of Hila Laviv andLea Avitaladdress the house's interior design, painted floors and stylized windows. A different type of dialogue with the structure is created in Irit Batsry's in situ artwork, which relates to the house's façade, linking it to the street.
Other works respond to the nostalgic nature and historical aspects of the house, such as Miki Kratsman's photographs, evocative of figures living at the turn of the 20th century in Tel Aviv, and the works of Dani Gal, which deal with the reconstruction of historical events that took place in Israel throughout the 60's and 70's.
The exhibition One, Two and… Three was initiated by ArtTLV, and is held as part of the 3rd Herzliya Biennial for Contemporary Art and with the support of Bank Leumi.
Participating artists:
David Adika,Lea Avital, Ido Bar-El,Irit Batsry, Amit Berlowitz,Yael Efrati, Dani Gal, Gideon Gechtman, Shachar Freddy Kislev, Gabi Klasmer, Miki Kratsman, Hila Laviv,Dana Levy,Elisheva Levy, Jacob Mishori,Jan Tichy,Shahar Yahalom
Curator: Dalia Levin
Associate Curator: Tal Bechler