Arie Berkovich — New Works

Exhibition opening: February 28, 2013, at Binyamin Gallery, Tel Aviv

On February 28, 2013, Binyamin Gallery in Tel Aviv will open a new solo exhibition featuring recent works by artist and curator Arie Berkovich. The opening will also mark the launch of the book Clouds of Delusion, which includes a selection of Berkovich’s recent paintings and sculptures, alongside brand-new works created especially for the show. The book also features a collection of texts and poems written by Eran Zur—an acclaimed Israeli rock musician and recipient of the 2013 Meir Ariel Prize—who is currently releasing a new album.

The collaboration between Berkovich and Zur is a unique and unprecedented creative partnership. Following several studio visits, Zur wrote texts inspired by Berkovich’s works, which became an integral part of the book, interwoven with selected lyrics from Zur’s songs. As a preview, the two collaborated in a special performance at Tmuna Theater, where Zur recorded the texts and Berkovich presented the works in a specially designed space, creating an immersive and atmospheric experience.

This artistic pairing forms a unified visual-textual composition that deepens the sense of alienation and loneliness in an urban environment. The human struggle to survive existence is given new weight through the encounter between Zur’s raw, unvarnished writing and Berkovich’s sculptural works—assemblages of discarded wooden furniture fragments, reclaimed and transformed into something new.

The exhibition presents Berkovich’s latest works, which reflect themes of isolation and estrangement in a post-apocalyptic world. In these pieces, rough wooden structures enclose soft materials such as fabric, rubber, and plastic—materials that seem to strain and press outward through the cracks, yearning for infinite freedom. Paintings and sculptural objects form an associative journey, both formal and conceptual, evoking a duality of intense sensuality and existential dread.

The exhibition and book launch, held at a cooperative alternative gallery in South Tel Aviv, also underscore the thematic spirit of the works and texts featured in the book.

Curator and book editor: Raz Samira

Book design: Daphna Graif

About Arie Berkovich

Arie Berkovich began his artistic career in the 1980s and was one of the founders of the legendary gallery “Ehad Ha’am 90,” alongside Ronit Dvoret and Sarah Chinsky (both of whom passed away in recent years). In 2022, a comprehensive book on the gallery was published, featuring research by Dr. Dalia Manor and edited by Raz Samira. In recent years, Berkovich’s artistic activity has expanded into curatorial work; since 2005 he has served as the artistic director and chief curator of the Tel Aviv Artists’ House. In addition, he worked for 12 years as a design journalist for Haaretz’s “Gallery” supplement and continues to write today for the online design magazine ReDesign. He also teaches art and design at the Holon Institute of Technology.