Looking In, Looking Out: The Window in Art

The Israel Museum presents “Looking In, Looking Out: The Window in Art”: a mixed media exhibition.

May 7, 2010-

Curator: Hagit AllonMedia: Mixed mediaThe window has featured as a motif in art for thousands of years, both in eastern and in western culture. It continues to be present in contemporary art, where it has become imbued with new meanings. The window serves as a lookout for the artist; sometimes it is a metaphor for an entire world, sometimes for a partial, fragmentary view of it. Through it, we get a glimpse of the artist’s soul, or of the lives of other people, invading their space, and in so doing perhaps escaping real life for a while. The window functions as a barrier between inside and out – a transition point between the artist and reality, between the viewer and the artwork. Running as a leitmotif in the exhibition, the window leads the visitor on a journey through the artists’ gaze onto the world, their surroundings, and their own inner reality. The exhibition opens a window onto the Museum’s extensive collections, as well as presenting works on loan created by artists in Israel and abroad.

Image details: Keren Assaf, Israeli, born 1978| Untitled, 2005-2007 | Chromogenic print | Courtesy of the artist and the Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art | Credit: Israel Museum, Jerusalem