Inbal Abergil at BAXTER ST at CCNY
Image above: Domeij from N O K - Next Of Kin © Inbal Abergil
Image above: © Ashley Comer, the Artist(right), from the opening reception
BAXTER ST at CCNY presents a solo exhibition by artist and 2015 Workspace Resident Inbal Abergil. In her exhibition N O K – Next Of Kin, Abergil examines the ways in which American families memorialize their relatives killed in military conflict. Abergil traveled throughout the U.S. to meet with relatives of fallen soldiers and military personnel and to document their methods of coping with loss through the preservation of personal effects. Her ongoing interest in the representation of war has led her to look beyond the phenomenon of large public monuments and to focus instead on the personal altars and private displays of mementos maintained by families. Small, private monuments exist in garages, basements, attics and storage lockers across the United States. Families must decide which objects to keep, what to take with them or let go of when they move or as time passes. Through images and testimonials, Abergil’s project honors the dead while at the same time giving voice to a community of survivors who keep memory alive as they strive to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of loss.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a new publication with interviews between the families and the artist will be available at the gallery.
Image above: Pickett from N O K - Next Of Kin © Inbal Abergil
Abergil will participate in a panel discussion about Next of Kin at BAXTER ST at CCNY on Saturday, March 5th, at 3 pm, moderated by photographer Allen Frame, with Elisabeth Sherman, curator at the Whitney Museum, and poet and playwright Maurice Emerson Decaul. The event is free and open to the public but space is limited. Please RSVP to baxterst@cameraclubny.org to secure a seat.
Image above: Melton from N O K - Next Of Kin © Inbal Abergil
Inbal Abergil is a visual artist and educator, originally from Jerusalem. Her practice investigates the aesthetic and societal norms through conceptions of time, memory and place, specifically in cultures where loss is a substantial part of daily life. Her work addresses the lived experience of conflict and trauma. Abergil holds an M.F.A. in Visual Art from Columbia University (2011). She studied photography at Jerusalem’s Hadassah College (2001), and received a BFA with honors from the Midrasha School of Art (2007). She has had recent exhibitions at Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast; Jeonju Photo Festival, South Korea; Shulamit Gallery, Venice, California and Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, New York City, among others. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Rabenovich Prize from Tel Aviv’s Department of Art & Culture (2004), The America-Israel Cultural Foundation (2002) and the Artist Grant Program (2012). Her series Nothing Left Here But The Hurt was nominated for the prestigious Prix Pictet Photography Prize (2012). Abergil was selected as a 2013 FlaxArt International Artist in Residence, Northern Ireland. In 2015, Abergil’s recent project was selected for fiscal sponsorship with Artspire, a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
Image above: Goetz from N O K - Next Of Kin © Inbal Abergil
Each year, BAXTER ST at CCNY selects four emerging photographers living in New York City for the Workspace Residency Program, which offers them analog and digital workspace at the International Center of Photography, access to the BAXTER ST at CCNY community and programs, and solo exhibitions at BAXTER ST. This exhibition is the third in a series of four solo exhibitions by 2015 winners of the Workspace Residency, supported by the Jerome Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, Kodak, Fujifilm, and the Israeli Office of Cultural Affairs and the General Consulate of Israel in New York.
