Born 1970 in Kfar Yehezkel, Israel
Lives and works in Berlin and Amsterdam
The imagery of identity and the politics of memory are the themes which form the core of Yael Bartana's artistic practice. With her point of departure being the national consciousness propagated by her native Israel, the artist explores the ceremonies, public rituals and social diversions that exist to reaffirm collective identities across different nation states.
Constantly seeking to create alternative fictional realities in commentary to existing narratives, Yael Bartana stages speculative situations and introduces fictive moments and futures in her works. Though known for her films and collective performances, the artist works across many various media, including sculpture, light ojects, installation and photography.
Bartana had a solo show in 2021 at the Jewish Museum Berlin titled Redemption Now, including a newly commissioned work for the museum, Malka Germania. In the same year, she participated in group shows at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; and Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include the Fondazione Modena Arte Visive, Modena (2019); Philadelphia Museum of Art (2018); Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne (2017); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2014); Secession, Vienna (2012); and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (2012). Bartana was the first non-Polish artist to represent Poland at the 54th Venice Biennale with her acclaimed trilogy And Europe Will Be Stunned.