ArtFocus 5 | Archive » Doron Solomons

66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 66 65 64 64 63 62 60 58 57 57 56 55 55 55 54 53 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 44 42 41 40 39 39 38 37 20 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 28 29 26 27 25 24 22 23 66 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

27

Doron Solomons // National Geographic

doron-solomons-image-national-geographic

Doron Solomons Born in the UK, 1969; lives in Tel Aviv. Recent solo exhibitions: Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art (2004), In Flanders Fields Museum, Leper, Belgium (2005), Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (2008); recent group exhibitions: Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2005), Kunsthalle, Vienna (2006), The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2008).

Doron Solomons’ video National Geographic (2004) is based on a two-minute-long excerpt from a real documentary film titled Operation Ali-Baba. The film, which was commissioned in 1953 by a voluntary Jewish organisation, documents the immigration of Iranian and Iraqi Jews to Israel. Solomons has kept the film’s original voiceover, whose combination of innocence and arrogance is shocking: terms such as “creatures straight out of the Arabian Nights” and “Representatives of the Middle Ages” reveal something of the manner in which Jewish immigrants from Muslim countries were perceived in Israel during those years. Solomons’ work is concerned with modes of perception and naming, and with the manner in which language reveals different worldviews. Using this “snapshot” of the 1950s, Solomons explores one of the many layers of a changing Israeli reality.