Artis, in partnership with 18th Street Arts Center in LA, is pleased to invite you to a studio visit with artist Hilla Ben Ari, who is currently an artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, supported by Artis. In her multidisciplinary art practice, Hilla engages in intergenerational research while exploring identity and the female body as a metaphorical junction of private, social, and cultural issues. Hilla’s most recent body of work is a series of contemporary tributes to artists of an earlier generation who were active in Israel and worked in a variety of disciplines, such as theater and dance. “The Voice That Calls to Itself,” a multichannel video installation by Hilla, is the third major project in this series and is currently on view in a solo exhibition at Ticho House – The Israel Museum in Jerusalem (December 29, 2021 - October 30, 2022). “The Voice That Calls to Itself” pays homage to the papercut artist Moshe Reifer (born 1907 in Galicia, Spain, immigrated to Palestine 1926, died 1985), highlighting the mythical, historical, social, and cultural aspects of his practice. Hilla’s intergenerational research reflects on possible genealogies of proximity and difference, rethinks cultural narratives, and explores the presence and voice of the body. 

Hilla Ben Ari is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Tel Aviv. Her work spans a variety of mediums such as video, installation, sculpture, and print, including projects that fuse visual art, theater, and dance.

Ben Ari held solo exhibitions at various art venues including Ticho House – The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Art, Ein Harod. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions at various museums and galleries, including at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Ana, CA, the MAXXI Museum, Rome, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, as part of the 2009 Asian Art Biennial. Ben Ari's video works were featured in international festivals including Videonale 12 at the Bonn Museum of Art, Bonn, Germany, and the 18th Japan Media Arts Festival at the National Art Center, Tokyo.

Among the prizes she has won: The Prize for an Established Video Artist - the Israeli Ministry of Culture (2016), the Pins Prize - The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2016), The Premio Combat Prize, Italy (2016), The Kolb Prize – Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2014). Furthermore, she has received grants and scholarships from AICF, Artis, Asylum Arts, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, the Ostrovsky Family Fund, and more. Her works are in the collections of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Bundestag, Berlin, and other public and private collections. www.hillabenari.com