The Art Pledge
Portrait of Yael Bartana

Courtesy the artist and Sommer Contemporary Art

Yael Bartana

Born in
1970
From
Afula, Israel
Lives and works
Berlin, Germany
Represented by
Sommer Contemporary Art
Website
https://yaelbartana.com/
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yael_Bartana

UN goals

Tags

I make art in order to challenge and question society and I believe that is certainly the responsibility of an artist.

I think creative work can open opportunities and change things on a small scale. It is a strong tool with which to undermine the status quo.

Biography

Complex is a befitting word to characterize Yael Bartana’s body of work. Whether referring to the relation between Poland and Judaism or to the alarming rise of fascism in the United States  and in Europe, Bartana’s work addresses the historic scars that continue to haunt our collective memory while simultaneously talking about the events looming in the political landscape.


A mixture of fiction and facts, her videos, installations, performances and photographs often explore the weight of religion in politics. Her installation at the Venice Biennale for the Polish Pavilion in 2011 reflected on the still persistent violence inflicted to the Polish jews which in turn echoes Judith Butler’s postulates around the complexity of cultural integration. 


One of her most recent videos–The Undertaker–directly touches on war and its consequences. With a powerful scene where women bury guns, this signifies her pacifist stand calling to mind Virginia Woolf’s essay Three Guineas in which the author denounced war and stressed the importance of gender equality to end conflicts. 

Career highlights

Solo shows

Group shows

Collections

Media

Selected artworks

Related artists