Trans-Disciplinary Conceptual Artist Gil Yefman | Studio Israel
Published Mar 27, 2023
Studio Israel Presents: Gil Yefman
(57 min) Gil Yefman is a trans-disciplinary conceptual artist who transforms canonized familiar myths from varied beliefs and traditions in order to undermine the structured definitions and portrayal of the other. Collaborative projects fuse memory, trauma, and the body, with transgenerational multilayered relations where soft materials dissolve hard subject matters.
The Studio Israel conversation series was inaugurated in the fall of 2020, in partnership with the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, and the Vilna Shul, and is made possible by generous support from Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). Studio Israel is also cosponsored by the Consulate General of Israel to New England. This peer-led series invites audiences to join leading artists, academics, and community leaders for a panoramic journey through the landscape of Israeli art, dance, food, fashion, and more, that investigates the diversity and nuance of Israel’s variegated social, cultural, and political aspects through the lens of the arts.
JArts’ mission is to curate, celebrate, and build community around the diverse world of Jewish arts, culture, and creative expression. Our vision is of a more connected, engaged, and tolerant world inspired by Jewish arts and culture.
Reflections
Dealing with discomfort
Why do you think that art often deals with difficult topics and pushes boundaries? Do you believe that some art should be censored?
Digest
Pick one of Gil Yefman's pieces featured during this Studio Israel discussion, ie. "Bad RenRo and Penelope at Kibbutz Buchenwald", in which collaborator, artist, and Holocaust survivor Dov Or Ner portrays a "Hitler-like" character. What are your immediate thoughts and observations about the work? What feelings does it bring up for you?
Practice what you "preach"
What does it mean to live eco-consciously or be an eco-conscious artist (or anyone in any field!) working with sustainable materials? Does it affect the materials you use in your practice or everyday life? How can we change our behaviors related to the climate crisis?
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