2008TaipeiBiennial | Artist

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Yochai AVRAHAMI

b. 1970 in Israel
yochaiavrahami.googlepages.com/

Yochai Avrahami lives and works in Israel. In his work Avrahami attempts to portray the current chaotic situation in Israel/Palestine. He does so through the construction of replicas of man-made machines, presented as sculptures in distorted environments, or crafted kinetic beings that participate in his videos. These models are made of materials such as cardboard, epoxy, and polyurethane that are, by their very nature, weak and frugal. Avrahami often references modes of transportation and their negotiation of local checkpoints to create stories that undermine the official and complex urban order, by proposing alternative trajectories. In several installations, the minibus taxi, a type of public transport that operates as an alternative to the monopolised bus company, becomes a symbol of deviation from formal routes. In another work titled Rocks Ahead, fossil-like, robotic creatures emerge from a quarry and move on to its negative counterpart – the airport runway. Avrahami highlights these objects’ unconstitutional behaviour to define the present and future of this society. Avrahami’s recent solo exhibitions include in 2008 Mistrust the Parks, ACC Gallery, Weimar, Germany; and in 2004 The Negotiations Continue at Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel. Selected group exhibitions include in 2008 Layla, a collaboration between AAI and INGA Gallery, New York; in 2007 OK VIDEO MILITIA, Jakarta, Indonesia; and in 2006 'Liminal Spaces', the Gallery of Contemporary Art (Gfzk), Leipzig, Germany. In 2005 Avrahami’s work The Nego was included in the 9th International Istanbul Biennial.