War Rug #3, 2014
Nevet Yitzhak (b. 1975; Israel) is a video artist, composer, installation artist, and cultural researcher. Each of these practices brings forth a complex view of art, society and culture. One of the cornerstones of her work is the use of archival material, found footage and institutional collections, which she disconnects from their original context, manipulating and placing them into an ensemble of images and sounds which configure her works. The outcome reintroduces the historical moment with a critical approach to past social and cultural structures and traditions. This decomposition and reconstitution in her work leaves gaps for inquiry and thought, resulting in a layered conceptual creation.
Yitzhak's multi-channel video & animation installations takes a critical approach to contemporary political and cultural issues. She challenges our perception of the past by raising questions about cultural heritage and collective forgetfulness within a complex local and global identity. She often employs archival materials that deal with historical events, which she then deconstructs and reconstructs using digital tools. The extraction of found footage from its original context and manipulation of its video and sound is one of the central processes of Yitzhak's work. In her work with museum collections, she constructs new exegetical spaces that combine historical and fictional elements, creating new narratives while considering the power that these objects possess to reflect political and sociological ideologies.
Nevet Yitzhak's work has been included in exhibitions at Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem; Martin Gropius Bau Museum, Berlin; Stedelijk Museum Bureau; and Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York, among others. The artist's work is included in the collections of L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art, Jerusalem; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; The Petach Tikva Museum of Art; and Shpilman Institute for Photography, Tel Aviv. Nevet Yitzhak is the recipient of many awards, including the Artist Book Grant from the Israel National Lottery Council for the Arts in 2014; the Landau Fund Prize for Arts and Sciences in 2014; The Beatrice S. Kolliner Award for a Young Israeli Artist, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem in 2014; the Shmuel Givon Prize for New Art from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2013; and the Creative Encouragement Award from the Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport in 2012.