The Poison Path

3.7.24 - 27.9.24

Group exhibition at Neve Schechter Gallery TLV.

Moshe Roas - Yakira Ament - Tamir Chen - Kineret Haya Max

Curated by Bar Yerushalmi & Botanically advised by Sharon Moyal. 

From the exhibition catalog:

... For those who choose to walk along its path, poison is a guide in the depths of darkness and discovery. Its pupils are few, for poison is unforgiving. Its students will recognize and respect it, and identify it in plants, animals, stones, and people. Poison, they will claim, is in everything and everything is poisonous; the only questions concern the dosage, and the intention of whoever determined the dose. Water is a giver of life but it will suffocate the plant it is feeding if overwatered; oxygen is necessary for our existence but toxic in exceedingly high doses.

In turning to the lexicon of poisons, there is almost no substance without poisonous potential. All substances have a duality of nature. All substances—physical, emotional, cultural, or metaphysical—retain possibilities in the treasure chest of those walking the winding path.

The artworks in this exhibition are the product of a long-term encounter between different embodiments of toxic substances, and the bodies of work of the participating artists. This encounter produced a change in the fabric of the artwork itself, revealing the evasive qualities of the poison and its various roles within the creative act—as a stimulant for inspiration, a tester of the body, and as a powerful substituent of the imagination.

As part of the exhibition, poisonous plants either native to the Fertile Crescent or brought to the region in centuries past along with human migration were foraged and collected. Whether known as indoor plants or weeds, they all have poisonous traits as well as roles shaping the medical, physical, and cultural histories of the people living in their midst.

In a world and era in which we experience various toxins in the form of violence, racism, fear, and pain, poison is a stubborn and difficult teacher, testing the survival and resilience of our body and spirit, and granting us a glimpse at possibilities of spiritual and emotional transformation—whether as individuals or as a society.

As we come to drink from the poisoned well, we will not depart as we came. Poison is a threshold and gate, giving us the choice to cease or to grasp life and its high cost.