Foreword

“What we have to say is formed in childhood, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to say it.”( Barbara Hepworth)

Upon immigrating to Israel, my brother and I were sent to the French Mission Boarding School in Jaffa (in the boys’ wing and girls’ wing, respectively). We spent approximately two years there and came home only on weekends. The aspect of the girl in a checked dress, the type of dress customary to Spartan boarding schools, which inspired many works of art, appeared to me during the research for this exhibition.

The theme of the show—garment images in contemporary art—took shape between 2002 and 2008 (years which I spent in New York) following the inspiration of these performances: the dress scene in the reconstruction of Martha Graham’s dance Sketches from Chronicles (originally staged in 1936) performed by her dance company at Joyce Theater; Andrea Zittel’s exhibition at Andrea Rosen Gallery where she combined, in the spirit of her work, basic garments commissioned from young designers; and the monodrama “I am My Own Wife” about the life of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf (1928-2002), an East-German transvestite whose name was tied with the deeds of the Stasi. The actor who played the role, Jefferson Mays, masterfully conveyed an intense experience without even changing the ascetic dress that covered his body throughout the play. The presence of the dress was striking.

It took four years for the idea for the exhibition to come to fruition.

Sophia Dekel-Caspi

Credits
Exhibition curator and catalogue editor: Sophia Dekel-Caspi
Jerusalem Artists’ House
Director: Ruth Malul Zadka
Production team: Tamar Katz, Michal Bar-Or
Exhibition mounting: Amiad Abrahams
Committee members: Magdalena Hefetz (chairperson),
Heddy Abramowitz, Shai Azoulay, Meirav Davish Ben Moshe,
Marcelo Lauber, Jonathan Ofek, Lena Zaidel
Catalogue
Design and production: Dina Shoham Design
Text editing: Daphna Raz
English translation: Daria Kassovsky
Photographs: Avraham Hay (unless indicated otherwise)
Assistant to the curator: Yifat Kalaora
Printing and binding: Meiri Press
Measurements are given in centimeters, height x width x depth
All the works from the collection of the artists, unless indicated otherwise
Jerusalem Municipality
The production of the exhibition and catalogue has been
made possible through the generous support of:
The Jerusalem Foundation
The Ministry of Culture and Sport
Jerusalem Municipality, Culture, Society and Leisure Administration
Jerusalem Artists’ House
Copyright © Jerusalem Artist’s House, 2011
The Association of Painters and Sculptors – Jerusalem Artists
ISBN 978-965-7319-21-5