A story from Jewish tradition about the city of Chelm: The nights in the streets of Chelm were dark due to the absence of lighting. To preserve the moonlight for these nights, the sages of Chelm took a barrel full of water, and when the moon rose and its light reflected on the water, they hurried to cover the barrel tightly with boards, believing that they had captured the moonlight. One dark night, when they took out the barrel to use the moonlight, they were surprised to discover that someone had stolen the moon!
This installation features a group of paintings I created inspired by the stories of Chelm.The paintings created a walking route along several streets. I drew moons and barrels with white charcoal on black cardboard, representing a significant act of searching for light—an act of optical illusion, magic, and vanity; an act of emptying and filling; an act of hope; an act of ART.
The installation consists of fifty moon and barrel paintings (acrylic and charcoal on cardboard and polygel, 100×70 cm) that were “planted” in Shenkin Garden and along Yochanan Hasendler St. as part of the #8 Festival of Experimenting Tools for Interdisciplinary Art, Tel Aviv, August 2011.
Artistic direction: Gil Alon. Curator: Aryeh Berkowitz.
The installation “Chelm’s Moon” has been presented at various events, gaining new meanings with each showing. In the exhibition at the Neve Shechter Gallery, located next to a synagogue, the black paintings were displayed in the public space along Eilat Street and Shelush Street, creating a pathway into the religious space.
2018: LUNA, group exhibition, Shechter Gallery, Tel Aviv. Curator: Shira Friedman. catalog.
