INFO

Artist Statement


I’m a photographer and digital media artist working in the intersection of architecture, archives, technology, and politics. My works are self-interrogations threaded into subjects of a larger scale – the myths, landscapes, taboos, and images that form the foundations of identity and place.

In my works, I use digital tools to create augmented, site-specific representations of contested landscapes and geographies in Palestine’s colonization history. I create layered and juxtaposed virtual spaces to critically examine how image-making and photography not only contributed to the Zionist colonial projects but were also affected by the tasks they lent themselves to.

My practice encompasses many tools, disciplines, and media. I work with archival material, mapping practices, writing, simulated videos, three-dimensional digital modeling, and more. Working in a three-dimensional digital environment allows me to step outside the photographic pyramid of vision and study the complications and entanglements of the medium as an outside witness. By employing a diverse set of technological and conceptual tools, I can closely interrogate historical and contemporary visual material and reconsider the context of their creation.

In my research projects, I often study and work with historical material, not to evoke nostalgia but to find sources for the contemporary entanglements that serve as my departing points. I make my works to embody and personify the complexities of living, working, and creating under the social and political landscape of post-colonial states. While I do not intend my works to resolve, I hope they serve, for audiences and me, as a small step in the long path of correction.

Within the field of research-based art, my interest extends from the practice of research to its placement within the public domain. I believe that research should not be limited to the discovery or creation of exclusive artifacts but should be engaged with the production and dissemination of knowledge, which in turn can lead to public action, acknowledgment, and inclusion. In this way, I see my practice as politically engaged.

My most recent works engage with their subject matter using texts and my own voice. My written texts place me, their speaker, in an immediate role within the context of the works. I’m not an outside observer but an implicated actor within the territories I explore. My writing has been a way to inform objects that otherwise might be expected to ‘speak for themselves.’ In my practice, I’m committed to unabashedly formulating a political and moral stance using images and words.


CV



Education

2021
MFA, Art, Theory, Practice, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

2016
BFA Photography Program, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem (graduated cum laude)

2010-13
B.Arch, Architecture Department, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem (not completed)


Solo Exhibitions

2023
If the Fire within Our Eyes, Bezalel Gallery for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel. Curated by Dor Guez

2022
Duplicating Palestine, Space p-11, Chicago, Illinois

2021
Anti-Mapping, w/ Miki Kratsman, Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Curated by Raz Samira

A Bruising Gaze on a Faltering Landscape, w/ Katherine Reynolds, Block Museum of Art, Evanston, Illinois

2019
Perpetual Motion of the Fourth Kind, The Printhouse Gallery, Tel Aviv. Curated by Etty Schwartz

2017
Gas, Stun, Smoke, Gallery of Photographic Communications department, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem. Curated by Doron Altaratz


Collaborative Projects and Contributions

2020
Tashlikh Atlas, w/ Efrat Hakimi, online project, www.tashlikhatlas.com

2019
The Beating of Faisal Al-Natsheh, photogrammetry work for Forensic Architecture and Breaking the Silence

2018
Killing in Umm Al-Hiran, photogrammetry work for Forensic Architecture

2016
The Jefferson Grid, online project, instagram.com/the.jefferson.grid/

2015
‘HaKol Galui’ (All Is Revealed) - Interactive sound tour in the village Lifta, part of the Jerusalem Season of Culture, with Hadar Porat and Hila Zaksenberg

Photo Kerber, exhibition at the Photography Department Gallery, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem. Curated by Michal Heiman. Research and curatorial work


Selected Group Exhibitions

2023
Open Systems 1: Open Worlds - OS1.3: Landscapes of the Political Imaginary, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore. Curated by Duncan Bass

Material Imagination: Israeli Art from the Museum’s Collection, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel.Curated by Dalit Matatyahu

Past Still Present: Visions of Disappearing Landscapes, Lisbon, Portugal. Curated by Joao Figueira, Debby Farber, and Rula Khoury 

2022
Ground Floor, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. Curated by Allison Peters Quinn and Mariela Acuña

Artport Artist Film Festival, Artport, Tel Aviv, Israel. Curated by Gilad Reich

Alternative Cinema, Film and Media Studies Program, Colgate University, NY

2021
Metapictures, the Media Arts, Data, and Design Center at the University of Chicago, IL. Curated by W. J. T Mitchell

2020
Visual Rights, with Miki Kratsman, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. Curated by Gary Bratchford

by & for, online exhibition and auction project, Chicago, IL. Curated by Pia Singh

2019
Tribute Exhibition to Yoram Lehman, Manofim Art Festival, The Cube Gallery, Jerusalem. Curated by Etty Schwartz

Point Cloud, Gallery of Photographic Communications department, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem. Curated by Doron Altaratz and Galit Shvo

2018
‘Mikdash Me’at’ (Small Senctuary), the MFA Gallery of Bezalel Academy, Tel Aviv. Curated by Avital Barak

‘Mishorim Haim’ (Living Plateaus), Bezalel Photography Gallery, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem. Curated by Ilanit Konopny

2017
‘Bikkurim’ (First Fruits), The New Gallery Artists’ Studios, Teddy, Jerusalem. Curated by Sally Haftel Naveh

Jerusalem in Detail, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Curated by Dan Handel

‘Parach (U’shav) Mizichroni’, Binyamin Gallery. Curated by Etty Schwartz

Islands, Jerusalem Design Week 2017. Curated by Tal Erez

Such a Landscape, 17th Media Art Biennale, WRO 2017 - “Draft System”, Wrocław

Room 404, Indie Photography Group Gallery, Tel Aviv. Curated by Keren Zaltz and Tal Nissim

2016
Notes, Indie Photography Group Gallery, Tel Aviv. Curated by Orit Bartini Shavit, Keren Zaltz and Davi Barel

Open House Jerusalem, public art installation and event inside a Pillbox guard post. Curated by Keren Kuenberg

Black Box, art exhibition in public space, Jerusalem. Curated by Asaf Cohen and Izek Mizrahi

Vacuum, International Photography Festival, Jaffa. Curated by Rea Ben David and Etty Schwartz

Depth of Field, Beit HaGefen Art Gallery, Haifa. Curated by Dr. Dor Guez and Yeala Hazut

2015
’Shetach Patuach’ (Open Space), public screening at a street art event, Jerusalem. Curated by Tal Rosen


Grants & Awards


2022
Finalist, Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

2021
Artist Fellowship, Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts, Israel

2020
High Holidays Digital Art Grant, Asylum Arts, Brooklyn

2018
Gérard Lévy Prize for a Young Photographer, The Israel Museum, Israel


Residencies

2021
Arad Contemporary Art Center residency program, Arad, Israel

2017-9
Art Cube Artists’ Studios, long-term residency program, Jerusalem, Israel


Publications

2021
Aerial Visibilities: Towards a Visual Sociology of the Sky, Gary Bratchford & Dennis Zuev, Introduction to the special issue, Visual Studies, January 2021

The Jefferson Grid, a+u magazine, issue “Shinkenchiku 2021:09”, September 2021, Tokyo, Japan

2020
Miki Kratsman and Shabtai Pinchevsky: The Anti-Mapping project, Andrew Fisher, Philosophy of Photography, October 2020

Anti-Mapping / Case: Khan al-Ahmar, Case: Nakba & The Green Line, Case: Unrecognized Bedouin Villages, Case: Urban Combat Training Centers. With Miki Kratsman. Produced for ‘Visual Rights’ at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool

2018
Anti-Mapping: Khan al-Ahmar, with Miki Kratsman. Angle issue 24, Multipress, Norway. Curated by Hester Keiser


Press

2023
Keep an Eye Out for These Emerging Chicago Artists, Lori Waxman, Hyperallergic, February 22

A Nakba não acabou (Nakba is not over), José Marmeleira, Público, February 4

La Palestine : tapis, citrons, occupation, Marc Lenot, Lunettes Rouges, Le Monde, January 26

Jerusalem Highlights January 27-February 2, Hagay Hacohen, The Jerusalem Post, January 28

2022
Regrid CEO Jerry Paffendorf Chats w/ Shabtai Pinchevsky, Living In The Map video podcast ep.4, July 7

I Question the Innocence of the Grid, Martha Tuttle, in Agnes Martin: Independence of Mind, Edited by Chelsea Weathers, page 61. Radius Books, Santa Fe, NM

2021
New Exhibit in Tel Aviv Shows Unrecognized Palestinian Villages, Hoda Abdel-Hamid. Al Jazeera, July 23

The Photos Exposing What Israel Is Trying to Hide, Gili Merin. Haaretz Magazine, June 16

Miki Kratsman and Shabtai Pinchevsky’s ‘Anti-mapping’ unveils histories of forced displacement in Israel and Palestine, Nurit Chinn. British Journal of Photography, August 11

Ces paysages qu’Israël voudrait cacher : une exposition à voir à Tel Aviv (French), Gili Merin. Courrier International, August 28

Was Israel zu verbergen hat (German), Gili Merin. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, December 2.

The Map and the Territory: Miki Kratsman and Shabtai Pinchevsky are Remapping Reality (Hebrew), Hagit Peleg Rotem, Portfolio Magazine, July 11

2018
Too Big a Credit, Tal Niv. Haaretz Weekend Magazine, March 16

The Jefferson Grid. Phases Magazine, April 22

2015
Even When You Go Off the Grid, You Might Still Be On It. The New York Times, September 3

Photographing the American 'Grid,' One Square Mile Per Frame, Laura Bliss. Bloomberg CityLab, September 16

Intriguing Photos of America's Perfect Square Miles, Laura Mallonee. Wired Magazine, September 29

Collections

Centre Pompidou, La Collection Du musée National D’Art Moderne

Private collections


Teaching

2022
Introduction to Digital Photography, Lecturer at the Department of Transmedia, Syracuse University, NY

2021
Digital Studio, and Introduction to Studio Art, Lecturer at the Department of Art and Art History, Colgate University, Hamilton NY

2019
Digital Art, Lecturer at Basis for Art & Culture, Herzliya


Lectures & Workshops

2022
Artist talk, Desert Futures studio, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Public artist talk at the Film and Media Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Public artist talk at Zilum Ba’am, Tel Aviv, Israel

Artist talk, Media Studies class at the RCA School of Architecture.

Artist talk, Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Photography Department.

2021
Imaging, Computation, and Place, 3-day workshop at Negev School of Architecture, Sami Shamoon College of Engineering, Be’er Sheva, Israel

Art and Human Rights International Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

A Bruising Gaze on a Faltering Landscape - Closing Conversation, with Amanda Williams, W.J.T. Mitchell, and Michael Rakowitz. Art, Theory, Practice, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Artist talk, Media Studies class at the RCA School of Architecture

2020
Artist talk, Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Photography Department

2019
#WIP Photo Slideshow: Memory and Archive, Mana Contemporary, Chicago

2018
Incorporating Spatial Analysis and Big Data in International Relations Studies and Conflict Research, Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Photography & Mapping, Masterclass at Basis for Art & Culture, Herzliya, Israel


Professional Work

2016-19
Digital Lab Printmaker and IT Specialist, The Printhouse, Tel Aviv

2014-16
Research assistant, Israeli Architecture Archive at the Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem

2013-14
Cataloguer, Photography Collections at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

2012-13
Assistant Manager at the Yad Ben Zvi Photography Archive, Jerusalem