I’m a photographer and digital media artist working at the intersection of architecture,
archives, technology, and politics. In my works, I use 3D modeling, mapping, internet-based tools, and more
to examine archival photographic materials and their relations to geographies of conflict and displacement,
especially in Palestine. My practice is engaged with issues of social justice, human rights, and
anti-colonialism, and their application in art and media.
Shabtai Pinchevsky
SELECTED
OTHER WORKS
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.
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.
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
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
2019
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
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
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
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
2017-9
Publications
2021
The Jefferson Grid, a+u magazine, issue “Shinkenchiku 2021:09”, September 2021, Tokyo, Japan
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
Press
2023
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
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
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
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
Too Big a Credit, Tal Niv. Haaretz Weekend Magazine, March 16
The Jefferson Grid. Phases Magazine, April 22
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
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
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.
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
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
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