Yishay GARBASZ

Profile

Born in 1970 in Israel, and studied photography at Bard College, New York in 2004. Recent main activities are artist-in-residence program at Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (2013), Group exhibition 'Have We Met Before?' at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NY (2012) , Ronald Feldman Fine Arts at Seven, Miami Art Week, Miami (2011)　Group Show 'NEXT - TWS 10 Year', at Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya (2011), My Mother's Footsteps; Becoming in Busan Biennale (2010),  Solo exhibition 'In My Mother's Footsteps ' at International Creativity Conference, Northwood University (2010), Group Show 'Print & Bound' at Wako Works of Art, Tokyo (2010) and Solo exhibitions 'In My Mothers Footsteps' at Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya and at Wako Works of Art, Tokyo (2009)

About works / performance

Her work delves with social themes such as families and human rights.  For "In My Mother's Footsteps", she traveled to Berlin, Holland, Poland and the Czech Republic to retrace her mother Salla's paths as described in her memoirs of surviving the Holocaust. Salla was born in 1929 in Berlin, and the age of 4, moved to the Netherlands with her family to escape the spread of National Socialism, only to be sent to a concentration camp in 1942.  

At the urging of her husband, who had also survived the Nazi persecution but in Poland, Sala wrote about her days until her release. She completed the book in 1995.  Despite having been unable to read the book for some time, Yishay Garbasz eventually embarked on this project of both historical and personal significance, in her attempt to fully understand her mother's history and her own. Using a heavy, large-format camera which requires one to focus on the subject with the utmost attention, Garbasz works with her mother's memory in order "to go back to collect [parts of her mother's soul]" that have been left behind; displayed in this show with respective texts, the images observe into the past through scars that are still present today.

In 2009 Garbasz's first book was published by Hatje Cantz as well as exhibit and install her work at the Tokyo Wonder Site and Wako Works of Art.

Becoming 2010 (Installation of becoming at the Busan biennale) Photos, steel, makrolon, motor, light, wood, foil, cloth 300cm width (Zoetrope) 

Close Up, Day 9, 2011 from The Number Project digital c-print 26 5/8 x 40 inches

Then number project performance (Video still) 2011

Eat Me Damien Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, 2010

Footsteps (48) from In My Mother's Footsteps, 2004- 2009 c-print and text 32 7/8 x 50 3/4 inches