GHIORA AHARONI | INCEPTION by Sundaram Tagore Gallery

GHIORA AHARONI INCEPTION

GHIORA AHARONI INCEPTION MARCH 31 – APRIL 30, 2022 SUNDARAM TAGORE CHELSEA

GHIORA AHARONI In his multi-disciplinary practice, Israeli-born American artist Ghiora Aharoni explores complex dualities, from the intersection of religion and science to intertwined relationships of seemingly disparate cultures. Aharoni creates sculptures and installations, often incorporating traditional objects, sacred text or icons. By recontextualizing cultural artifacts or text and imbuing them with new meaning, Aharoni challenges the viewer to question conventional norms and entrenched social constructs. Ghiora Aharoni has exhibited extensively around the globe, including the Rubin Museum and Asia Society, New York; the Vatican Apostolic Library; Museum of Contemporary Art, London; The Jewish Museum, Amsterdam; Jewish Museum, Vienna; Museum Galleries of the Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) in Jaipur; Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum (formerly The Victoria & Albert Museum), Mumbai, among others. Aharoni’s work is in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musei Vaticani; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; and the Anu Museum, Tel Aviv, among other cultural institutions worldwide. Born in 1969, Rehovot, Israel | Lives and works in New York

THE GENESIS SERIES This series of intricate assemblage sculptures incorporates iconography and text referencing scientific, spiritual, mystical and cultural beliefs surrounding creation narratives. Aharoni began The Genesis Series in 2008, conceiving it as a dialog between science and religion. For many, the story of Genesis, the Bible’s account of Earth’s creation in seven days, marks the beginning of the world and in essence, of time itself. In contrast, theories of evolution, which arose during the nineteenth century, chronicle a history that began billions of years before humanity’s existence. Rather than focus on the dichotomy of these seemingly opposing views, Aharoni interweaves a multiplicity of belief systems in The Genesis Series. Incorporating antique and vintage religious artifacts, laboratory equipment and elements from the natural world, each illuminated sculpture becomes a self-contained symbolic universe exploring the fluidity of time and how diverse narratives coalesce and intersect. Individual sculptures from the series have been exhibited in museums and cultural institutions internationally, however this exhibition is the first time seven works from The Genesis Series—an allegory for the 7 days of creation—have been shown together.

INCEPTION II

2021 Assemblage sculpture with glass beaker engraved with text, laboratory clamps, icons, iconography, tubular lights and steel base 47 x 32 x 33 inches/119.4 x 81.3 x 83.8 cm

DAY I

2021 Assemblage sculpture with glass beakers, tubes, flasks and domes with engraved, appliqué and printed text; laboratory clamps; icons and iconography, tubular lights and steel base 103 x 50 x 34 inches/261.6 x 127 x 86.4 cm

DAY 1II DAY

DAY 1III DAY

DAY 4IV DAY

DAY 5V DAY

DAY 5VI DAY

DAY 5VII DAY

DAY VIIb

el base

CROSSROADS The most recent sculpture in The Geneses Series, Crossroads is inspired by Ethiopian Christianity’s adaptation of Genesis, where the story of Creation was transformed to incorporate local African traditions. In the undulating structure, Ethiopian painted crosses and latticework processional crosses evoke an apse. The juxtaposition of these icons with antique Torah finials, the Genesis text in Hebrew and the crown of thorns suggest the multiplicity of creation narratives and their dynamic intersection across time and belief systems.

Crossroads, 2021, assemblage sculpture with glass beaker engraved with text, laboratory clamps, icons, iconography, tubular lights and steel base, 82 x 36 x 30 inches/208.3 x 91.4 x 76.2 cm 27

INCEPTION Translating one of the works from The Genesis Series of assemblage sculptures into a photograph, Aharoni recontextualizes the sculptural form into two-dimensional imagery, as a contemplation on our perceptions of time and creation. The image is a floating glass vessel engraved with the Genesis creation text from the Torah, which begins at the center with identical text moving in opposite directions, spiraling upward and downward. The dual direction of the text, inspired by the mystical concept that, while our current existence was indeed the beginning of our creation, there were other beginnings prior to ours. It echoes the often -divergent paths of that which is logical and the divine.

Inception, 2015, digital print on fine-art archival paper, 40 x 40 inches/101.6 x 101.6 cm 29

THE GENIZAH SERIES Philosophical or sacred text, the material expression of the metaphysical world, is the connection between the physicality of the material realm and ruminations of human consciousness. Genizah incorporates the Genesis creation narrative from the Torah to create a lyrical expression of the symbiotic relationship between them. The sculpture is composed of broken glass—much of it engraved with the Genesis text in Hebrew—to express the dynamic yet fragile ethos of human existence. In Judaism, text is regarded as a sacred medium, a chronicle as well as a generator of creation, ideas and precepts, and the connective thread of the diaspora. In the case of Genesis, it’s the record of human existence as we understand it. The traditional genizah, a repository for worn Hebrew books and documents on the verge of collapse, is a place where they are kept rather than destroyed, until they are buried. Genizah, composed of beakers, flasks and test tubes inadvertently broken while assembling other sculptures in The Genesis Series, presents a state of symbolic and physical shattering of words that are the substance of creation. The fragments of the Genesis text on shards of glass seem to float, liberated from the constraints of a physical form. Its essence is unbound, intact and still resonate, contained within a suitcase as a reference to the diaspora. Though shattered, Genizah conveys the irrepressible nature of the human spirit, even when it appears to be in a fractured state, beyond repair. 30

Genizah I & II, 2022, vintage suitcase; shattered glass and shards with engraved, appliqué and printed text; and light panel, 18 x 30 x 16 inches/45.7 x 76.2 x 40.6 cm & 18 x 26 x 16 inches/45.7 x 66 x 40.6 cm 31

THE IMMANENT TRANSCENDENTAL Alluding to the biblical story of the Golden Calf, The Immanent Transcendental is a sculptural assemblage incorporating vintage and antique golden icons and religious symbols from different belief systems and eras. Juxtaposing these elements with vintage laboratory equipment, including glass beakers engraved with sacred text and in-filled with 23-karat gold, creates a metaphorical rumination on humanity’s collective desire to experience the metaphysical and spiritual realm.

The Immanent Transcendental, 2017–2020, assemblage sculpture with laboratory tubes, flasks and beakers (some etched with Hebrew text from Exodus and the medieval scholar Rashi’s writings, in-filled with 23-karat gold); antique glass dome; antique Torah scroll finials; bronze, brass and metal icons with tubular lights and an illuminated steel base, 70 x 45 x 38 inches/177.8 x 114.3 x 96.5 cm 33

THE MOSES CUP SERIES The Moses Cup Series, an assemblage of hand-blown glass engraved in 23-karat gold with sacred text in Aramaic and a gilded rhyton (ancient drinking vessel), references the Israelites’ seemingly unorthodox relationship with the Golden Calf. When Moses bids the Israelites to drink ground gold (the remnants of the calf he destroyed) mixed with water, just how the Israelites drank it is never described. Aharoni’s sculpture responds to that metaphysical void, expressing the transcendent energy evoked by an absent icon, historical monument or house of worship, either disappeared or imagined.

The Moses Cup II & III, 2019, hand-blown glass vessel with engraved text in-filled with 23-karat gold, 23-karat gold leafed, vintage replica rhyton and steel base, 26 x 10 x 7 inches/66 x 25.4 x 17.8 cm & 26 x 19 x 7 inches/66 x 48.3 x 17.8 cm 37

THE ENUMA ELISH SERIES The Enuma Elish series is inspired by the Babylonian creation epic, whose origin precedes Genesis. In this sculpture, a glass sphere—a vintage laboratory flask—is engraved with segments of text from the Enuma Elish tablets, written in cuneiform, one of the world’s earliest writing systems. The sphere, suggesting new beginnings in the form of an empty vessel waiting to be filled, is cradled between two bronze drinking vessels, evoking a celebration of an epic event. Each is cast in the image of a deer, a symbol of the physical world and reminder that our existence is predicated on the presence of others.

Enuma Elish III, 2019, assemblage sculpture with glass beaker engraved with text, vintage bronze replica rhytons and steel base, 18 x 25 x 12 inches/45.7 x 63.5 x 30.5 cm 39

LUNAR CALLIGRAPHY Inspired by the conventions of calligraphy, Aharoni employs the rising full moon as a medium to create a new language and convey the inherent energy of creation in light and text. Every August, Aharoni photographs the moon from the same point on the Eastern Seaboard. The resulting compositions combine organic and deliberate gestures and strokes, transmuting light into a new characterbased language in which each character has two meanings. By converting the moon’s seemingly immutable presence and trajectory into an artistic expression, Aharoni asks us to see light and text as means of constructing a new, unknown realm and imagine the boundless possibility of creation.

Lunar Calligraphy, 2008–present, digital print on fine-art archival paper, Small: 26 x 26 inches/66 x 66 cm Medium: 40 x 40 inches/101.6 x 101.6 cm Large: 96 x 60 inches/243.8 x 1524 cm 40

MAKE ME A TEMPLE Aharoni has long explored the power of language as a tool of agency and a way to bridge perceived cultural divides. While a student at Yale, he created Hebrabic©, a combination of Hebrew and Arabic inspired by the shared etymology of the word home in both languages. Subsequently, he went on to create Hindru©, a melding of Hindi and Urdu that evokes the complex, interwoven narratives of these two languages in India’s history. Embodying the multifaceted expression of the sacred, Make Me a Temple invokes the connection between the internal and external realms, humanity and the divine, and its manifestations in the historical, personal and monumental. It also signifies a collective desire for spiritual expression that traverses cultures.

Make Me A Temple in Hindru©, 2019, polished aluminum sculpture in Hindru© (the artist’s combination of Hindi and Urdu) 5 x 39 x 1 inches/12.7 x 99 x 2.5 cm 47

MAKE ME A TEMPLE WITHIN (THE GHAU SERIES) Make Me a Temple Within (The Ghau Series) is a body of work employing portable shrines, carried by Buddhist monks and pilgrims on spiritual journeys, as a lens to explore the relationship between the individual and the divine. Aharoni replaced the small statue of Buddha that traditionally sits inside the ghau, visible through a small window, with a video montage he made of Buddhist monks prostrating as they circumambulate sacred sites. The film is interwoven with images of Aharoni’s sculpture Make Me a Temple in Hebrabic© (his melding of Hebrew and Arabic), ambient sound and other public devotional rituals, conveying a collective desire for spiritual expression that transcends belief systems. The title refers to a phrase translated from the Hebrew bible. Rather than the familiar King James translation “Make me a temple…so I can dwell amongst you,” which suggests a brick-and-mortar structure, a more accurate translation of the Hebrew text is “Make me a temple, so I will dwell inside you,” an invocation to manifest spiritual energy within oneself.

Make Me a Temple Within (The Ghau Series), 2019, portable vintage Buddhist shrines retrofitted with screens displaying video montages created by the artist, dimensions vary 49

RONDOLINEAR SCULPTURES Aharoni’s Rondolinear series of minimalist abstract sculptures challenges assumptions about materials and their physical relationship to space. Aharoni uses wood and plaster, traditional building materials, to fabricate sensuous elongated forms that express dualities of tension and movement, substance and mutability. Torqued into spirals, helixes and asymmetrical shapes, Aharoni’s smooth, rhythmic forms suggest calligraphic gestures on the threshold of language.

Rondolinear Sculptures, 2004–present, unique plaster and wood sculptures, dimensions vary 53

SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERIES We have been representing established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000. We show work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant. We specialize in paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations with a strong emphasis on materiality. Our artists cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. We show this work alongside important work by overlooked women from the New York School. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers.

NEW YORK Chelsea: 547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 gallery@sundaramtagore.com

SINGAPORE 5 Lock Road 01-05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 singapore@sundaramtagore.com

LONDON 4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Senior Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Director, New York: Kathryn McSweeney Registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty

WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM Text © 2022 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2022 Ghiora Aharoni All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Genesis Series - Day V B (detail), 2021, assemblage sculpture with glass beakers, tubes, flasks and domes with engraved, appliqué and printed text; laboratory clamps; icons and iconography, tubular lights and steel base, 77 x 48 x 44 inches/195.6 x 122 x 111.8 cm