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About House on the Bridge, Group exhibition, Museum Kaiserswerth, Dusseldorf, 2021 Celebrating 1700 years of Jewish Life in Germany Curators: Dr. Barbara Grotcomp-Shepes, Elena Wohlreich, Dina Blich Participating artists from Germany and Israel: Mirela Anura, Hanns Armborst, Karin Dörre, Maria Gilges, Susanne Kamps, Bernard Langerock, Zippora Rafaelov, Elena Wohlreich, Rina Peled, Avraham Eilat, Leora Wise, Dina Blich, Lena Zaidel, Oded Zaidel.  Lena Zaidel, Traffic Island, 2007, charcoal, dry pastel and industrial gold paint on paper, 43X110  Lena Zaidel, Bulldozer, 2007, charcoal, dry pastel and industrial gold paint on paper, 43X110 Traffic Island / Lena Zaidel The large wolves, as large as cars in their dimension, roam restlessly around the traffic circle at the center of the drawing. The scene is of an isolated construction site where at first glance the rubble: stones, bricks, sandbags, buckets and poles, are lying haphazardly scattered on the ground. However, at closer inspection the indications of a Magen David, a Star of David, are present at the center of the composition. This is a curious discovery that raises questions. Could it be that the Magen David, and what it symbolizes, is under a process of reconstruction and renewal represented here? Is the Magen David in reconstruction or is it in fact in disassembly? Possibly this symbol lying in pieces represents world Jewry in its dispersed communities. The Holocaust too may come to mind if we see the Magen David as lying shattered. The sandbags might either be fortifying the contours of the star of David or are they concealing it. Has the symbol of Jewish people been subjected to the ravages of time or alternatively of history? What role do the wolves play here as guests in this scene? Do they represent spirits of destruction, or do they herald restoration? Very consciously, every element of the drawing is chosen to inform the uneasy scene. As such the choice of the yellow field, actually gold, is a holy reference, familiar to us in Christian iconography. The holiness reconstituted here represents a modern religious sentiment. This is an iconography of vacillation between apocalyptic destruction and good tidings. Lena Zaidel |
Gideon Ofrat 2024
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