Abraham Kritzman
Land’s End
9th December 2022– 25th January 2023
Elizabeth Xi Bauer is thrilled to announce Land’s End, Abraham Kritzman’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. Through the display of paintings and a multimedia site-specific installation, the artist expands his ongoing investigation into notions of landscape and architecture. The latter is an amalgamation of various parts that are being assembled on site for the first time, with the result constituting an L-shaped structure. These forming elements are as distinct from one another as they could be – a reflection of Kritzman’s many interests – showcasing an assortment of colours, shapes and textures that, through the skilled hands of the artist, give way to a solid whole.
Curator Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes explains the process of installing these elements:
“When facing the installation, it is difficult to assume which of its many aspects will first catch the spectator’s attention. Perhaps it will be the columns that seem to hold the parts together. These are made of dark wood slabs – a material that recurs in Kritzman’s vocabulary – aligned vertically, forming a textured yet somehow flat surface. There is a correlation of scale between the artist’s height and these columns, and a nod to monuments and ancient buildings is inevitable; yet to draw a strict parallel between object and architecture would prove delicate: it is too big to be a model, too small for an actual construction. Rather than round or square, the columns are shaped like Tetris pieces, with indentations that perfectly accommodate the watercolours that emerge from its sides.”
Cardinal Direction (2022) is a series of watercolour and coloured pencil compositions on thick archival cardboard. It takes six of these drawings, measuring approximately 90 x 60 cm each, to form a single panel that connects one column to the next. They consist of abstract works in which hues of white form the background. There is a sense of continuity between one work and the next, as they were all created with the same palette of colours, however ultimately each is an autonomous composition. Every element of this installation was designed to stand on its own: they are assembled here together, but will find themselves on different paths in the future.
Atop of these cardboard works the viewer will see gouache and pencil drawings created on paper (also titled Cardinal Direction, 2022).
Maria explains:
“If at first, they seem to be individual compositions, as with everything else in this installation, looks are deceitful; upon closer scrutiny they reveal themselves to be diptychs made of twin rectangular shapes. Once more Kritzman appeals to the idea of construction, of finding meaning via adding parts together, as his artifice. Yet unlike the previous work, these drawings were conceived as a bipartisan unity; that is to say, there is de facto continuity between each pair of twins. Their imagery is made of dark, charcoal-like brushstrokes with subtle colour pencil details underneath.”
Close to their top edge, each of the columns contains a ceramic work (The Pipe and piper; John’s Fan; take it all away with c; and Remo, all 2022). Though they are unique compositions, they all share a roundish shape, a similar placement within the column and, most importantly, the delicate process behind their making. To create these works, the artist first builds their egg-like shape with clay. Then, with the clay still wet, he cuts the object into smaller parts leaving geometric edges, as if creating a puzzle. He then draws a mix of abstract and figurative shapes over them, by using cobalt dioxide. Then, at last, he fires the objects.
Perhaps the most emblematic work of this installation is a group of plaster sculptures that resemble torsos, which, due to their scale, are essentially abstract. Sitting on top of the columns and titled Chest Up (2022), this series has a complex process behind its making, where the artist has limited control of its outcome. The starting point consists of casts made of clay, into which Kritzman pours plaster; after a while, the plaster sets and the clay naturally separate from it; the clay moulds are then discarded, the sculptures having been created through their negative spaces. These are instinctive works by nature, since the artist feels them more than he sees what he is making; this ‘discovery’ process is somehow evocative of archaeology.
Except for the ceramic works, which are placed strictly in front of the installation, all the other elements can be equally appreciated from the back. Behind this large structure, on two of the gallery walls, hangs a selection of paintings. Pam’s Second Table (2022) is a large-scale composition that is in dialogue with Cardinal Direction: both because it has been made through modules aligned together, and because the colour white predominates. The notion of negative space, present in the making of Chest Up, appears here again. The artist first paints their wood surface with red hues of acrylic paint, then adds a layer of white paint. After that, he draws over the surface using a sharp object to create negative reliefs.
The most figurative work in the exhibition is the painting The Bed Fire Breather (2022), which has been created with a dark palette of various colours that is characteristic of Kritzman’s compositions. As the title indicates, it depicts a purple human creature breathing fire through their mouth while lying down; through dialectical association, one cannot help but think that this Prometheus-like creature is the primordial inhabitant of the installation.
Notes to Editors
Abraham Kritzman’s practice spans painting, printmaking, sculpture, and installation art. After studying at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, he completed his Master’s Degree in Painting at the Royal College of Art, London in 2014. He lives between Israel and London and is currently a Tutor at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.
Kritzman’s multidisciplinary work molds the space and time of symbols and objects. Often influenced by mythical narratives and timeless human imagery, Kritzman’s technique removes the original references from his creations, forming unexpected trajectories and offering new meanings.
Kritzman is the recipient of several awards and scholarships and has exhibited throughout Europe and Israel. His artworks exist in major foundations and institutions such as the Clore Duffield Foundation, London, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. The artist has previously been awarded: The Minister of Culture Prize for Emerging Artists; The Hermann Struck Prize for Printmaking; the Clore-Bezalel Scholarship for MA at the Royal College of Art; The Aileen Cooper Prize; The Excellence Award for Achievements from Bezalel Department of Fine Art and The History and Theory Excellence Award from Bezalel Academy.
Earlier this year Abraham Kritzman’s Sheshet series of six sculptures were acquired by the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel. Also in 2022, Kritzman’s work was the central part of two exhibitions curated by Àngels Miralda: Marine Lover: Wax and Water and Marine Lover: Snakes and Metals.
Marine Lover: Wax and Water featured works by Abraham Kritzman and Violeta Paez Armando at Sally’s Fault, Amsterdam. Marine Lover: Snakes and Metal, at Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam, as well as Kritzman, included works by Marlene Dumas, Violeta Paez Armando, Ulay and Müge Yilmaz.
Abraham Kritzman: Land’s End runs from 9th December 2022 –25th January 2023, open Wednesday through to Saturday, 12 – 6 pm or by appointment. A Private View will be held on 8th December 2022, 6 – 8 pm in the presence of the artist. Abraham Kritzman will be available for interviews.
Text for this press release has been provided by the curator Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes.
