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The Collapse of the Middle Class. 2018, oil on canvas, 200x315x2 cm
The Collapse of the Middle Class. 2018, oil on canvas, 200x315x2 cm
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The Collapse of the Middle Class Painting

Hila Laiser Beja

Israel

Painting, Oil on Canvas

Size: 124 W x 78.7 H x 0.8 D in

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$27,200USD

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100 Views
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About The Artwork

The video work “Mitzpe” was created by me in 2015, as a result of my Residency at Nir Ben Gal and Liat Dror's "Adama" dance troupe retreat in Mitzpeh Ramon, Israel . A few years later, in 2018, the painting “The Collapse of the Middle Class” was also conceived. The Mitzpe Ramon area is a desert environment, peripheral in definition. During my wandering time around, I arrived at an abandoned industrial site. At first, the place reminded me of a ruined city after an earthquake. The sight revealed was of heaps of stone slates on wooden surfaces, ready to be loaded from the site to pave the floors of people’s homes, but they remained in their solitude, neglected and useless. Around them was a chaos of smashed stone remains, gathered in piles. The factory itself seemed like an ancient Greek temple that had been destroyed, some glory left in its isolation. The exposed concrete pillars, which apparently held the roof of the building, defined a space that had been stripped of functionality, while the remains of cutting and shredding machines stood silent, dysfunctional. Further exploration revealed that this used to be a factory called "Avnei Mitzpe", famous for its natural stone tiles and very popular in Israel at the beginning of the 21st century, perceived as a status symbol of the upper and middle classes. The factory was shut down following the closing of the local quarry, and the piles of stones that had been manufactured there, remained useless and stipped of their glory. Although only relatively recently it was left vacant due to financial difficulties, the place seemed like an archaeological excavation site, a time capsule that had been frozen in place. On a second visit to the site, I brought Yuko Imazike, a Japanese dancer who has been living in Israel for several years. I wanted to bring life into this pseudo-glorious environment, a kind of a promising future and a symbol of a shaken Israeli narrative that had stopped from existing. The image of Yuko wandering around, a young woman of considerable alienity, appearing among the rubble, looking for a path, staring at the horizon as if trying to find an answer to the present situation, not out of nostalgia, perhaps suggests her rising as a phoenix. https://youtu.be/s4kM9sh2MRM

Details & Dimensions

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:124 W x 78.7 H x 0.8 D in

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Hila Laiser-Beja is a multidisciplinary artist creating works of sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, video, and etching; as well as collaborating in the fields of choreography and dance. She holds diplomas in photography from the Camera Obscura School in Tel Aviv and in interior architecture from ORT Career College in Jerusalem. Laiser-Beja received her B.F.A in The department of fine arts & education for arts from Haifa University and her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Tel Aviv University. For the last few years, Laiser-Beja's works have explored the image of the ‘Home’ and its perception in the Israeli and international cultural contexts. Her works deal with the place of the home as a domestic space in light of the national and symbolic home; a sheltered and personal space vs the society’s public image of it, a secluded sanctuary yet also acting as a limitation; an ideal but yet mundane habitat. The idea of home and house is expressed in her works not only through the image but also through materials: Laiser-Beja creates symbolic sculptural environments, composed of concrete and iron rods, typically used for building construction. In her creations, these materials are subjected to her private point of view in terms of form, concept and materiality. Along with her main focus, Laiser-Beja deals with the representation of women and their presence in desolate, abandoned, and often dangerous places. She examines the individual coping with the situations in which they are placed. Similarly, in her abstract video pieces, Laiser-Beja creates a continuous narrative relating to the connection between video, painting, static and motion; and also touches on social, political, and historical narratives; which are not classified under specific titles but rather allow the viewers to form their own associations. Laiser-Beja has exhibited her works in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including exhibitions in the Petah Tikva Museum of Art, the Ilana Goor Museum (Jaffa), the Artist's House (Tel Aviv), and the Suzanne Dellal Center (Tel Aviv). Her works are found in collections in Israel, Italy, England, and the United States. Hila Laiser-Beja lives in Mevasseret Zion and works in her studio in Tel Aviv Israel.

Artist Recognition

Showed at the The Other Art Fair

Handpicked to show at The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art in London

Artist featured in a collection

Artist featured by Saatchi Art in a collection

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