Dani Gal
23. September – 13. November 2011

The Kunstverein Arnsberg presents the solo exhibition of the Israeli artist Dani Gal. Six of his latest projects will be shown, which approach themes such as history, memory and interpretation. He creates sound installations, films and collages that recognize social relationships and connections and question our personal perception of collective memory.

The starting point for his works is often existing documentation, which he examines and subtly manipulates or artistically reconstructs on the basis of his research. Gal highlights the circumstances of production, examines cultural relevance and enables connections to be made between historical material and contemporary contexts. His questioning of truth systems leads to a strong examination of current and historical events and their reflection in the media. In addition to conventional text and image analysis, his particular interest in language and sound adds a further dimension to the visualization of history, historiography and the associated mechanisms of selection and rejection. Gal's documentary approach and poetic narration illuminate the gap between reality and representation, between memory and invention, by exposing history as an open process of subjective interpretation.

Dani Gal was born in Jerusalem in 1975. In 2008 he won the Villa Romana Prize. His most recent exhibitions include the Venice Biennale 2011, Istanbul Biennale 2011, Berlinale Forum Expanded 2011, MAK Vienna 2011, W139 Amsterdam 2010, Art Basel Statements 2010, Halle für Kunst Lüneburg 2009, Pecci Museum Prato 2009, Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin 2008. Gal lives and works in Berlin.

works in the exhibition:

Room 1
The Talking Mountain of Israel (2006)
Installation-Video pal, image, text

Room 2
The New Terrorism (2006)
video / audio Installation, Loop

Yigal Amir watching video
Court drawing by Liz Feinberg (1996)
Watercolour on paper

Room 3
Zen for TV and The Birth of The Palestinian Refugee Problem (2010)
Video (black and white)/ sound installation, 22 Min. 34 Sec., loop
Slide projection, 80 slides, colour

Room 4
Manual (2009)
Video pal, 45 min
Dumitrescu’s Dream
Video Installation:
– Dumitrescu’s Dream (2010)
Video HD, 15 min 47 sec
– Urformen (2010)
Video pal, 28 min

Room 5
Nacht und Nebel (2011)
Video HD, 22 min