In Search of Lost Time
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The Exhibition’s name is borrowed from the renowned novel by Marcel Proust, recounting the experiences of the narrator as he grows up and matures via a multitude of perspectives, while dealing with his developing perception of art. The lead antagonist of the novel, however, is not the narrator but rather the human memory in which everything is stored, processed and interpreted. The memory threads interweave sensory experiences which return our consciousness to familiar places and times past, creating encounters between a present situation and a memory which rises involuntarily. A moment from the past invades the current one, creating an experience of crystalized truth. Proust views this experience as a form of revelation, and attributes to it a metaphysical meaning – our ability, through connecting between the past and present, to exit out of time and penetrate the eternal essence of matters.

The works featured in the exhibition In Search of Lost Time all address the concept of memory through different angles and approaches; at times it is the images themselves, echoing in the viewers’ collective or personal memories. In his work Sharon Ya’ari exemplifies the affinity between reality and memory, as part of an ongoing process in which he returns to the photographic moment in different time intervals, at times in color and later in black-and-white. Saâdane Afif’s conceptual work demonstrates the metamorphosis of an idea through the temporal dimension as well as via different modes of expression and media. The concept of memory is also treated in works that are abstract, with no clear image to cling to. These can be seen in the paintings of Moshe Kupferman, an artist whose oeuvre has focused on the concept and practice of memory from its beginning – the early layers of paint influence and shape the later ones, serving as a clear reminder of the painterly process, and the past of the painting itself; Similarly, Tom Burr’s seemingly minimalist blue square treats the process of memory while casting away recognizable imagery. The work’s tactile qualities bring about objects from the household, and inspire the viewer’s inner associative world.