Please join us for a visit to the studios of artists Ruth Patir and Merav Kamel & Halil Balabin, current artists in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York. The residencies are organized by Artis in partnership with ISCP to provide artists from Israel with an opportunity to make new work and professional contacts in New York. We are delighted to co-present this program with C24 Gallery in conjunction with the group exhibition “Conflicted,” which features work by Ruth and Merav & Halil, and is on view in New York from July 27-October 5, 2023.

In her practice, Ruth fuses documentary and computer-generated imagery to explore the politics of gender, technology, and power. She will share recent work from “My Father in the Cloud,” her solo exhibition at the CCA: Tel Aviv-Yafo (September-November, 2022) that featured a video essay about grief and loss of the same name (pictured above). She will also discuss her process creating video works, such as Petah Tikva (2020) and Marry Fuck Kill (2019) that animate canaanite fertility deities from the Israel Museum’s archeology collection. Ruth will be in residence at ISCP throughout July and August, 2023.

Merav and Halil work in collaborative and interdisciplinary ways, incorporating hand sewing and sculptural techniques. Their work spans sculpture, drawing, painting, and site-specific installations that are at times surreal, folkloristic, humorous, and ironic. Merav and Halil will talk about their intuitive and collective process, and present recent work from their solo exhibition, “Bile” at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (January-June, 2023). Merav and Halil are in residence at ISCP throughout August and September, 2023. 

Ruth Patir fuses documentary with computer-generated imagery in a quest to expand the possibilities of realism. Ruth’s works often begin with the artist’s autobiography, and gradually open up to address larger societal issues, such as the politics of gender, technology, and the hidden mechanisms of power. Ruth received her MFA in New Genres from Columbia University in New York (2015) and her BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (2011). Her recent solo show, titled "My Father in the Clouds" (2022), was presented at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. In this project, the artist confronts her personal relationship to technology through the grief over her father’s passing. Her 3D animation, “Love Letters to Ruth” (2018), was presented at Hamidrasha Gallery - Hayarkon 19 in Tel Aviv. Her film, "Sleepers" (2017), before winning the Video and Experimental Cinema and Video Art Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, was shown at Danspace Project in New York on former president Trump's inaugural day in office. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Petach Tikva Museum of Art, the Anthology Film Archive in New York, the Flux Factory in New York, and more. Patir’s work is part of institutional collections such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv. She is represented by Braverman Gallery in Tel Aviv.

Merav Kamel and Halil Balabin live and work in Tel Aviv. They received their BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (Kamel in 2012, Balabin in 2014).

They have been working together since 2012. Their interdisciplinary work shifts among different techniques and practices, from hand-sewing hybrid figures, to drawing, painting, sculpture and site-specific installations. Their research investigates human society and modern culture through a provocative yet ironic practice, which is at times surrealistic and folkloristic, but also critical and serious. Their work focuses on gender issues, sexuality, power and control, and represents fears, weaknesses, and desires of our contemporaneity.

Merav and Halil have exhibited their work in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Buchum, Germany; Philara Museum, Dusseldorf, Germany; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel; Bat Yam Museum, Bat Yam, Israel; Herzliya Museum, Herzliya, Israel; Brno House of Art, Brno, Czech Republic; Pram Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic; PM gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany; Circle 1 Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Untitled art fair, Miami, FL; Artport, Tel Aviv, Israel; Janco-Dada Museum, Ein Hod, Israel; Ha’Kibbutz Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel; Givon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel; Basis Gallery, Herzliya, Israel; Inga Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel; among many other venues. 

Their work is included in many public and private collections such as the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Israel Museum, Philara collection, Carry and Dan Bronner collection, Discount Bank collection, Roni and Allen Baharaff collection, Shoken collection, Ann and Ari Rosenblatt collection, Dubi Shiff collection, and others.

Merav and Halil are recipients of the Beatrice S. Kolliner Award for a Young Israeli Artist, Israel Museum; Israel Ministry of Culture, Young Artist Award (Kamel in 2018, Balabin on 2016); the Artis Grant for Exceptional Work in Uncertain Times; “Elhanani” Prize from Bezalel Academy of Art; and the America-Israel cultural Foundation award for extraordinary artistic achievement.

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative and professional development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios and two galleries, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. ISCP organizes exhibitions, events and offsite projects, which are free and open to all, sustaining a vibrant community of contemporary art practitioners and diverse audiences. Over 1,800 artists and curators from more than 90 countries, including the United States have undertaken residencies at ISCP.

C24 Gallery was established in 2011 in New York City. Under the leadership of Director/Curator David C. Terry, through a diverse roster of contemporary art in multiple mediums, they’ve developed an international program that speaks to a sense of global awareness and interconnection. The Gallery also engages in collaborative programming partnerships with nonprofits and other cultural organizations, including the New York based Consulate General of Germany, the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Goethe-Institut, Soho House, the German Academic Exchange Service, Galerie Deschler Berlin, A:D: Curatorial, Artis, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and Field Projects. As culture producers, they support social equity, restorative justice and environmental protection, offering thought-provoking content and programming while engaging in community conversations and projects worldwide.