“Shalom” – maquette of monument, 2015, styropor, gypsum, adhesive, diameter 1m Vehi Sheamda, 2015, mixed technic on oil paper, 32x24 cm Hatikva, mixed technic on canvas, 2006, 100x80 cm “Shalom”, 2010, mixed technique on canvas, 80x60 cm

Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Austrian Cultural Forum and the Embassy of Israel in Russia present the Shalom solo exhibition by Israeli artist Dvora Barzilai. The exhibition contains paintings and installations.

The Hebrew word shalom means peace. Dvora Barzilai devotes her art to the theme of peace, starting from her life as a citizen of two countries, Israel and Austria. The artist’s paintings and sculptures are inspired by the lifestyle of a believing Jewish woman. The religion and Jewish traditions are a starting point of all her works. Many artworks are imbued with joyful motifs, associated with the Jewish tradition. For example, there are Hasidim, playing musical instruments, rebbe, dancing at the wedding and fun scenes. Other works are deep studies of the prayer texts, fragments of liturgies, songs, proverbs and forgotten or unknown pieces, which come alive before the audience, written in different fonts. There are texts written in Biblical Hebrew and fragments of texts in Modern Hebrew, as well as texts written in Rashi script, a semi-cursive typeface, used for printing commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, and texts written in block script.

The Shalom exhibition is devoted to understanding of the artist’s own experience and faith. A memorial garden and a copy of the Shalom sculpture, which is installed in Perchtoldsdorf (Austria) to the memory of the synagogue and the Jewish community, destroyed by the Nazis, will be reconstructed in the museum’s halls. The exhibition will also comprise 30 new artworks, constituting the Aggadah series. The Hebrew word aggadah means tales. It is a book that narrates about the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. The book is read during the festival of Pesach.

About the artist

Dvora Barzilai was born in 1961 and grew up in Tel Aviv.

Barzilai studied pedagogy in Tel Aviv Academy and in Lauder Chabad Campus Vienna, where she earned her Bachelor of Education degree. She studied graphics in the House of Arts in Tel Aviv, as well as she studied painting, drawing and illustration under the direction of such outstanding artists, as Michael Block, Dani Kerman and Hanna Goldschmidt. The artist also attended the Basic School, where she studied sculpture in the studio of Zvi Lahman.

In 2008, two sculptures by Dvora Barzilai became monuments in the University of Vienna and the University of Innsbruck.

Dvora Barzilai was a participant of many exhibitions in Austria and abroad. In October 2009, she exhibited her works in Moscow. In June 2010, she conducted several master classes in the Museum of Freud, St-Petersburg. The artist displayed her artworks in Bad Vöslau (12/2009), Bad Aussee (08/2011), Großrußbach gallery (10/2011), at the Lechaim exhibition in Klosterneuburg Castle (10/2012), in the Gallery Benedict, Vienna (04/2013) and in Castle Potzneusiedl, Austria (09/2013).