Mind Flickers, the first retrospective dedicated to Motti Mizrachi, one of the most prominent artists in Israel, reviews his prolific practice from the 1970s to the present. The exhibition unfolds Mizrachi’s multidisciplinary, pioneering work in photography and performance, sculpture, video, and installation.
Mizrachi’s early work was innovative in that it brought layers of his world to the fore and echoed religious, Mizrahi, and marginal living environments, which differed considerably from those prevalent in the mainstream art discourse at the time. Its pioneering aspect lay in
providing means and tools with which to convey these worlds. At a time when photography was considered only a service medium, Mizrachi recognized its power to forge complex identities. Turning to photography, he created a staged, performative self-portrait, which stood in its own right as a work of art, giving voice to identities theretofore excluded from
Israeli art. In the 1980s, expanding his interests to space and three-dimensionality, he created innovative sculptural installations in cast polyester. In the 2000s, he continued to innovate with a Yiddish Theater of sculptural installations accompanied by Yiddish singing in his own voice—which marked his return to performance. Mizrachi strives to touch on the
essence of things, creating image combinations that are considered as signs—linguistic milestones or building blocks, that acquire an added meaning in each period.
Motti Mizrachi was born in 1946 in Tel Aviv.
Between 1970 and 1974 he studied art at the Bezalel Academy of
Arts and Design, Jerusalem, and until the late 1970s he lived and
worked in the city. In 1980 he returned to Tel Aviv, where he has
worked since. Between 1980 and 1987 he taught at the Bezalel
Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; HaMidrasha School of
Art, Ramat Hasharon; Kalisher School of Art, Tel Aviv; Holon
Institute of Technology; and Camera Obscura School of Art,
Tel Aviv, where he also headed the Art Department. In 1980 he
represented Israel at the International Biennale of Young Artists
in Paris, in 1987—at the International Art Biennial, São Paulo, and
in 1988, together with Zadok Ben-David—at the Venice Biennale.
Over the years, Mizrachi has participated, alongside leading
international artists, in group exhibitions around the world
Installation photographs: Youval Hai
