presents a unique exhibition of works by artists influenced by the pan-European DADA movement in the early 20th century alongside manuscripts and contemporary sound performances associated with the medieval mystic Abraham Abulafia (1240- c.1291), who developed a “Kabbalah of Names.”
Both deconstruct or atomize words into individual consonants and vowels, and reorganize them in new and surprising ways, vocalizing them in sound poems. The subversion of the normal word order and its semantic meaning lends a fresh graphic presence to the page of text.
The overriding of reason is, for them, a means to new creativity.
Bruria Finkel’s “One Whole Book From One All Page” is sold at the museum shop. The catalog of the exhibit will feature one of her works.
Some pages of her book:
Rappaport Sculpture Gallery, Main Building
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
On show are some 60 works of the leading Dada and Lettrist artists: Tristan Tzara, Hugo Ball, Jean Arp, Marcel Janco, Hannah Höch, Kurt Schwitters, George Gross, Francis Picabia, Max Ernst,Victor Brauner, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, George Brecht.
Abulafia and the technique of ars combinatoria has had a major impact on contemporary discourse, from Umberto Eco to Jacques Derrida, engendering works of literature, theater, film, and art. New scholarship has confirmed a direct connection to Abulafia of the Lettrist leader Isidore Isou and the Dada-affiliated poet Yvan Goll.
Curator: Dr. Batsheva Goldman-Ida / catalogue.
The exhibition features works from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and public and private collections from Israel, France, and Switzerland.
