Term: July 2021
Ayelet Carmi lives and works in Herzliya, Israel, and holds a BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. She is a recipient of the Minister’s Prize, awardred by the Israeli Ministry of Culture, and received an honorable mention in the Pais Culture Council’s project “First Portrait.” Carmi has held solo and joint exhibitions at the Museum of Art in Ein Harod, Haifa Museum of Art, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, the Jerusalem Artist’s Studios, and other distinguished art venues across Israel. She has also participated in many group exhibitions at leading art venues, including, the Tel Aviv Museum, the Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan, the Yanko Dada Museum in Ein Hod, the Alexander Ochs Gallery in Berlin and more. Works by Carmi are held in public collections, among them of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and the Museum of Art in Ein Harod, as well as the Sabag Collection, the Ari Van Rosenblatt Collection, and other private collectors in Israel and abroad.
Carmi grew up on a kibbutz, a collective community, in the Jezreel Valley. However, the ideology and aesthetics tied to Israel’s socialist, pioneering ethos is largely absent from her work, which escapes to realms of mythological figures, ornate colors, classical emblems and the splendor of plants and species. Spanning a range of techniques, from painting, sculpture, site specific installations and wall painting, Carmi’s work is informed by the historical and technological connotations of Western art across the centuries. However, while corresponding with classical art traditions, her work is populated by figures marked by a contemporary body language and rooted in the here and now, exploring themes of femininity, Zionist history and the male-oriented, art-historical figure of the artist. With works that are layered, witty and sensitive, she constructs a utopian world that harmonizes and confronts perceived contradictions such as nature and culture, femininity and masculinity, and reality and the imagination.
Since 2015, Carmi has also produced work jointly with video and multimedia artist Meirav Heiman, a collaboration that led to ”The Israel Trail Procession,” an extensive video project showcased at the Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Israel, and Villa Tamaris in the Var, France. Other collaborative work by the two was shown at the Kniznick Gallery, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, at the Neve Schechter Center, Tel Aviv, the Haifa Museum of Art, Israel, as well as numerous screenings in Israel and abroad. Their joint project has gained support from the Pais Council for Culture and Arts (Israel), Artis (NY), Asylum Arts (NY), and the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts (Israel).
EDUCATION
1990–1994 BFA, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem
SOLO AND DUAL EXHIBITIONS
2020 “Retinopathy,” the Brain Art Gallery, the Center for Brain Sciences, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem (curator: Michal Mor)
2019 “Garland,” the Dwek Gallery, Jerusalem (curator: Raz Samira)
“One Foot Planted” (with Meirav Heiman), Kniznick Gallery, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts (curator: Susan Metrican; cat.)
2018 “The Israel Trail” (with Meirav Heiman), part of “Last Chance to See,” Petah Tikva Museum of Art; Villa Tamaris centre d’art, La Seyne-sur-Mer (curators: Drorit Gur-Arie, Isabelle Bourgeois; cat.)
“Sphere” (with Meirav Heiman), Schechter Gallery, Neve Schechter Contemporary Jewish Culture and Arts Center, Tel Aviv (Curator: Shira Friedman; cat.)
2016 “Icosahedron” (with Meirav Heiman), part of “Post-Postmodernism ≠ Utopia,” Haifa Museum of Art (curator: Svetlana Reingold)
2015 Solo exhibition, part of “From Andy Warhol to Contemporary Art: Culture, Color, Body,” Haifa Museum of Art, (curator: Svetlana Reingold)
“The Slick,” Kibbutz Gallery Rosh HaNikra (curators: Yuri Katz and Asia Dublin)
2013 “A Person Worries,” the Project Room at Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod (curator: Galia Bar Or)
2010 “Two Thousand Feet,” Liberal Jewish Community, Hannover (curator: Friederike Schwarzer; cat.); Gallery 39, Tel Aviv (curator: Orly Hoffman)
2009 “Simple Botany of Dreams,” Goren Gallery, Academic College of Emek Yezreel (curators: Yehuda Yatziv & students)
2008 “Alexantropia,” Gallery 39, Tel Aviv (curator: Tal Lanir; cat.)
2004 “Siamese Twins,” Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod (curator: Galia Bar Or; cat.)
2003 “Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming,” Kibbutz Art Gallery, Tel Aviv (curator: Tali Tamir)
2000 “My Last Travels in the Continent,” Kibbutz Art Gallery, Tel Aviv (curator: Tali Tamir)
1999 “Satellite Explorers,” the New Artists’ Quarter Gallery, Kiryat Tivon (curator: Yifat Ben-Natan; postcard set)
1996 Solo exhibition, The Artists’ House, Jerusalem
“Paintings,” Kibbutz Art Gallery, Tel Aviv (curator: Tali Tamir)
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2021 “Airspace,” Contemporary Art Gallery, Ramat HaSharon (curator: Ravit Harari)
2020 “Chada Knishta,” Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod (curator: Dvora Liss)
“A Contemporary Glance at Indian Miniature,” Wilfrid Israel Museum of Asian Art & Studies, Kibbutz HaZorea (curator: Shir Meller-Yamaguchi)
“The Winners 2017–2018,” the Ministry of Culture and Sport Prizes in Art and Design, Ashdod Art Museum (curators: Yuval Biton, Roni Cohen Benyamini, Dafna Gazit; cat.)
2019 “Flowing with Milk: A Look at the Promised Land” (with Meirav Heiman), Beit Hankin Multidisciplinary Gallery (curators: Orna Etkin Raviv, Eilat Hertzeloff, Neta Haber)
2018 “Flower Power: 12 Artists from Israel,” Galerie am Rathaus Norderstedt; Circle 1 Gallery, Berlin (curator: Carmit Blumensohn)
2016 “Between Synapses: Where Art and Brain Sciences Intersect,” the Jerusalem Artists’ House (curator: Michal Mor)
“Guides: Field Guides in the Mirror of Contemporary Israeli Art,” the Senate Gallery, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Trumpeldor Gallery, Be’er Sheva (curators: Haim Maor; cat.)
2015 “Local Pulse 2” (with Meirav Heiman), Artists’ house, Tel Aviv (curators: Orly Hoffman and Arie Berkowitz)
2014 “Office session III,” the Anchorage House, East India Docks, London (curator: Caitlin Mavroleon)
2013 “To Leave a Mark,” part of Traces V: The 5th Biennale for Drawing in Israel, the Jerusalem Print Workshop (curator: Irena Gordon)
“Medium,” Site Specific 3, 15 Nachmani St., Tel Aviv (curator: Maya Attoun)
“Every Thing Beautiful in Its Time,” 10 Gallery at Bet Michal, Rehovot (curator: Carmit Blumensohn)
2012 “The Cheerful Mummy,” Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan (curator: Mira Avgar; cat.)
“Living Room Talks,” The Artists’ House, Tel Aviv (curator: Orly Hoffman)
“Art Any Way: Exploring the Wheel,” Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Sara Raiman Shor)
“Earth Nature,” The Artists’ Residence, Herzliya, Israel (curator: Varda Genossar)
2011 “The Winners 2010,” the Ministry of Education and Culture Prizes in Art and Design, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan (curator: Meir Aharonson; cat.)
“Site-Specific Wall Works,” Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod (curator: Rina Genussov; cat.)
“Basis,” Culture and Art Center, Nazareth (curators: Farid Abu Shakra, Varda Genossar)
“Scales and Measures,” Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin (curator: Orly Hoffman)
“Update your Reality: Artists from Israel”, Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin
2010 “More than Canvas,” Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Sara Raiman Shor)
“Eating the Heart Out,” The Artists’ Residence, Herzliya (curator: Varda Genossar)
2009 “Something in the White,” Culture and Art Center, Nazareth, Israel (curator: Farid Abu Shakra)
2008 “Resident Artists Show,” The Artists’ Residence, Herzliya, Israel
2007 “The Beauty of the Void,” Gallery 39, Tel Aviv
“Space/Street,” The Artists’ Residence, Herzliya, Israel
2005 “On the Banks of the Yarkon: the Yarkon River in Israeli Art,” Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Varda Steinlauf; cat. + postcard set)
“Red Flag,” the Printing Workshop, Kibbutz Nirim (curator: Dov Heller)
2001 “Staged Occurrence,” Musrara Gallery, Jerusalem (curator: Guy Shoham)
2000 “Magician, Wizard, and Artist Meet,” the New Artists’ Quarter Gallery, Kiryat Tivon (curator: Yifat Ben-Natan; cat.)
1994 “Separate Worlds,” Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Itamar Levy)
SCREENINGS AND FESTIVALS (with Meirav Heiman)
2020 “Physis,“ video conceived as part of “Whole World, “ a video art series by the Modalius music ensemble
“Now&After,” International Video Art Festival, Moscow
2018 “Nocturnes du Mercredi,” a 3-part program of recent video works from Israel, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, June 2018 (curator: Hadas Maor)
2016 Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Festival for Expanded Media, Stuttgart
2015 “Tomorrow Is Here: Futuristic Night at the Museum,” a multidisciplinary art event at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator: Raz Samira)
2013 “Photosynthesis,” part of the Testing Tools #10 Art Festival, Beit Tami, Tel Aviv (curator: Carmit Blumensohn)
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2014 “Tsiltsud,” wall piece conceived as part of the International Summer Seminar, Keshet Eilon Music Center, Kibbutz Eilon (curator: Vardi Bubrov)
2009 “Earth Writing Discipline,” permanent mural at the Art+ Hotel, Tel Aviv
RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS
2019 FB Tel Aviv Resident Artist, Facebook Open Arts, Tel Aviv
2015 Artist Career Development Program, Asylum Art in collaboration with Artis and Artport, Tel Aviv
2010 “BETA 1,” artist exchange program organized by Schir Art Concepts, Berlin and the Artists’ Residence, Herzliya
PRIZES AND GRANTS
2019 Second-place winner, “The Israel Trail” (with Meirav Heiman), Esports Digital Art Prizes, Hong Kong
2018 Pais Grant for an Exhibition Catalogue, “The Israel Trail: Procession” (with Meirav Heiman), Israel National Lottery Council for the Culture and Arts
2017 The Minister’s Prize, the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport
Project grant for “The Israel Trail” (with Meirav Heiman), Asylum Arts, New York
Project grant for “The Israel Trail” (Meirav Heiman), Artis, New York & Tel Aviv
2016 Pais Grant for New Media, “The Israel Trail” (with Meirav Heiman), Israel National Lottery Council for the Culture and Arts
2015 Project grant for “Eclipse” (with Meirav Heiman), the Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, Tel Aviv
2010 Ministry of Education and Culture Prize
2003 Honorable mention, “First Portrait” scholarship, Israel National Lottery Council for the Culture and Arts
