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Another Victim of Hamas: A Kibbutz’s Art Gallery

In Hamas’ destruction of Kibbutz Be’eri, the terrorists also came for curator Sofie Berzon MacKie and her family. They survived, but the kibbutz’s gallery was burned to the ground

Osnat Ben Dov's exhibition "Shadow of a Passing Bird" at Kibbutz Be'eri, before the attack.
Osnat Ben Dov’s exhibition “Shadow of a Passing Bird” at Kibbutz Be’eri, before the attack.Credit: Michal Revivo

This article by Gilad Melzer for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was published in Haaretz English version on November 2, 2023.

On Friday October 6, Sofie Berzon MacKie, the curator of Kibbutz Be’eri’s gallery, was busy preparing herself for a long day at work the following morning. She knew that Saturday was the last day of a week-long Sukkot holiday, and hoped that visitors would throng to the current exhibition shown at the gallery, “Shadow of a Passing Bird,” by photographer Osnat Ben Dov.

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The Center for Cuban Studies and Art in DUMBO Open Studios

Featured Project
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Courtesy of the Center for Cuban Studies / Cuban Art Space

Each spring over 100 artists and art organizations in DUMBO And Vinegar Hill open their studio doors to the public for a weekend. This year the event takes place on April 22 and 23 from 1 to 6 PM. Art Spiel created a Mixed Media Guide for this event in addition to other curated guides on the Art In Dumbo website here. In conjunction with the event Art Spiel conducted a few interviews with individual participating artists. This one is with Sandra Levinson, the executive Director of the Center for Cuban Studies / Cuban Art Space.

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Instituting The Re Institute in Millerton

In Dialogue with Henry Klimowicz, founder and director


The Re Institute empty, 2021, photo courtesy of Henry Klimowicz

The Re Institute is an extension of Henry Klimowicz’s studio, a very large 1960s dairy barn outside of Millerton, New York. About 11 years ago sculptor Henry Klimowicz started the gallery as a response to living in the “center of nowhere”, as he puts it. The artist says that the gallery allows him to have extended working relationships with other artists and their work. “I try not to know what a show will be about before it opens and I get to spend the length of the exhibition becoming aware of all of each show’s nuances,” he says about his curatorial process. A normal season at Re Institute includes 4 to 5 shows, which mostly feature 2 to 3 artists showing in the large space upstairs and another person downstairs. “I try to get each artist to have a specific reason for showing in the gallery outside of the possibility of selling work,” he says. This fits his vision of Re Institute as a non-profit institution. It’s important for him that the featured artists will find reasons to use the space uniquely. “There has to be something in the process of showing an artist that brings depth to the artist’s understanding of their own work or the process of exhibiting their work,” he says. These different ways of interacting with each artist have become the most important aspect of the space for him.

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Let the silence take over: On words, inner compass, and patience

Looking at Art

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Il faut se méfier des mots (Beware of words), Ben, 1993. Belleville, Paris, France. Photo: Astrid Dick

To make a painting is not easy. To look at a painting is not an easy matter either, as it requires the viewer’s disposition and willingness to engage with it beyond words and labeling. Our brains like to pin things down, using minimum resources to move on to the next task as quickly as possible. They latch on to words. Yet the moment words enter our minds, we’re not really looking anymore.

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Painting the Narrative at the National Arts Club

In Dialogue with Dee Shapiro

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Installation view

In the group exhibition Painting the Narrative at the National Arts Club in New York City the artist Dee Shapiro brings together six contemporary artists who explore content and form of narrative painting ranging from interiors to landscapes, personal to imagined, realistic to fantastic. Featured artists: Jennifer Coates, Laura Karetzky, Judith Linhares, Ernesto Renda, Kyle Staver, and George Towne. The show runs through June 28th.

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More Time Less at Cathouse Proper

In Dialogue with David Dixon


MORE TIME LESS, Cathouse Proper: Zac Hacmon, ‘Capsule #5’ (2020); Nari Ward, ‘Anchoring Escapement (Baule)’ (2017); Elana Herzog ‘Cross Pollination #1’ (2020); photo: Dario Lasagni

For Cathouse Proper’s second ensemble exhibition, More Time Less, curator and gallery director David Dixon brought together five artists — Zac Hacmon, Elana Herzog, Aga Ousseinov, Tim Simonds, and Nari Ward — whose installations, wall-based work, and sculptures reflect our changing perception of ‘normative time.’ David Dixon describes his curatorial process, gives us a closer tour of this ensemble exhibition, and shares some background on his diverse art practices.

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Art for Your Collection at the Catherine Fosnot Art Gallery and Center

In Dialogue with Catherine Fosnot

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Inside Atrium 106 showing the work of Karlis Rekevics, Richard Kalina, and Lisa Corinne Davis (left to right), Image courtesy of The Catherine Fosnot Art Gallery and Center, New London CT. Atrium 106 is just one of three atriums being used for the exhibition

Art for Your Collection, the upcoming group show at Catherine Fosnot Art Gallery and Center in New London, CT., features paintings and sculptures by 26 artists who were recommended by New York City art critics and curators. Catherine Fosnot, the founder of the gallery who is an artist herself, says that her own experience as an isolated artist during the pandemic has been an impetus for opening this art gallery as a hub for art discourse and art collection outside large metropolitan centers. The exhibition opens November 12th and runs through December 30th, 2020. Catherine Fosnot shares the genesis of her new gallery, her vision, and how this show evolved.

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Artists on Coping: Ellen Hackl Fagan

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

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Ellen Hackl Fagan, Seeking the Sound of Cobalt Blue, Installation during Bushwick Open Studios, 2018. Photo: Charles Geiger

Ellen Hackl Fagan is an artist and the creator of ODETTA, a contemporary fine art gallery in Harlem, NYC. Fagan builds connections between color and sound using color-saturated paintings, sculpture, installations and collaborative projects that explore our potential for synaesthesia, often resulting in ad hoc performances with viewers. Balanced between randomness and intention, like jazz music, Fagan’s art reveals limitless possibilities for improvisation. Fagan also invented The Reverse Color Organ (RCO), a web app that enables viewers to playfully interact aurally with color. Fagan exhibits her work extensively, curates, writes, and creates opportunities for collaborations with artists, curators, musicians, and coders to further her projects.

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Spotlight: “On Collecting Works of Art- An interview with Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski”

Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski at their home with work by Andre Butzer. Image courtesy of collectors and author.

Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski are two young collectors who are passionate about contemporary art. They both have a sharpened sensibility of the art market. With a keen understanding of the auction prices, one of the things that separates them from other collectors is they firmly believe in going after the work they feel is most important to them. If there is such a thing as destiny their story would define it. Fittingly, they first met at the Museum of Modern Art in 2016. Six months into their relationship they purchased their first work of art together. They got married and continue to actively appreciate art and collect as a couple. I conducted an interview with them this past summer. I narrowed the field of questions to the nature of collecting; what interests them, and; the advice they would provide to other young collectors. The following is a transcribed interview.

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