Naomi Leshem
Naomi Leshem was born in Jerusalem in 1963. She lives and works in Tel Aviv.
Naomi Leshem’s artistic process begins with a recollection, or even a dream. In her photographic process, the camera serves as a tool for recounting stories, which are the offspring of her thoughts, recollections, or research.
Leshem’s interest lies in areas of life and being that may be defined as “in betweens”. This is an aspect that feels familiar, giving her the freedom to shift between worlds – terrestrial and celestial (“Way to Beyond”, 2003-2006), conscious and unaware (“Sleepers”, 2006-2010) and directed and accidental (“Runways”, 2007). Leshem tends to depict situations that she feels are part of a course between different states in life, whether from childhood to adulthood, wakefulness to sleep, or life to death. In her new series, (“Centered”), Leshem seeks to examine how individuals from different places formulate different interpretations of the same existing images, as a result of their personal and cultural differences.
Landscape is a recurring motif in Leshem’s photographic series, specifically, the juxtaposition of figures and landscape and the tension between localism and universalism. She is also interested in the concept of time. The decisive photographic moment becomes diffused in her photographs, as a single, unmanipulated image that encompasses different moments in time.
Naomi Leshem graduated from the Photography Department of Hadassah College in Jerusalem in 1987. She has shown in Israel, the United States, and across Europe. Leshem is a recipient of the Constantiner Award for an Israeli photographer from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Her works are included in the collections of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Norton Museum of Art in Florida, and the Shpilman Institute for Photography in Tel Aviv.
Naomi Leshem
Born 1963
Education
1985-1987 Photography studies at the Hadassah College, Jerusalem, Israel
1984-1985 General and German studies in University of Freiburg, Switzerland
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Ghosts of Others, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2018 Ein Gvul, Ncontemporary Gallery, Milan, Italy
2017 Lizzet, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2016 Frozen Sands, Trumpeldor Gallery, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
2014 Landmarks,Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2014 Forty,Artists House, Jerusalem, Israel
2014 Centered, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, NY ,USA
2012 Leisere Toene, Sylva Denzler Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2011 Sleepers, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2011 Sleepers, Kunst(zeug)Haus Rapperswil, Switzerland
2011 Between Zones, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, U.S.A
2010 Pisten und Wege, Freidrichsbau Buhl, Germany
2009 The Constantiner Award Exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2009 Runways And..Sylva Denzler Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2001 Touches, Artists House, Jerusalem, Israel
2000 Touches, Beit Gavriel, Tiberias, Israel
1998 To see the unborn, Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem,Israel
1997 From Medium to Medium, Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1996 From Medium to Medium, Artists House, Jerusalem, Israel
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 25 Years to Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2018 Flood, Ashdod Art Museum, Ashdod
2018 Tzurah: Sguardi Dentro Israele, Museo Ebracio Di Roma, Roma, Italy
2018 Photo London, Somerset House, London, UK
2017 Operart, Noga Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2016 No Fly Zone, Ncontemporary Gallery, London
2014 Decadal Variations, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, USA
2014 Gastspiel,Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland
2014 Journeys, Israel Museum Jerusalem, Israel
2013 Stadtkunst, Gebert Stiftung fuer Kultur, Rapperswil, Switzerland
2013 Facts of Planning, On Space and Planning in Israel, Ministry of Interior, Jerusalem, Israel
2013 Perchance to Dream, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, NY, USA
2013 Tra Due Mari, Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2012 Great Wide Open, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2012 Random, Baad Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2012 ParisPhoto, Paris, France
2012 Von Hier nach Dort, Vögele Kultur Zentrum, Pfäffikon, Switzerland
2012 Altered Space, Intrenational Photography Festival, Jaffa, Israel
2012 A Prayer is a Prayer is a Prayer, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, NY, USA
2012 Summer Solstice, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, NY, USAhe
2012 Memory Spaces, Beit Kaner, Rishon Lezion City Gallery, Israel
2012 Good Night, The Israel Museum Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
2012 The Undertoad, The Center of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2011 ParisPhoto, Paris, France
2011 Tina B. Art Festival, Prague, Czechoslovakia
2011 Recent Acquisitions Photography, Norton Museum of Art. Florida, USA
2011 Human Lanscape, Artists’ House, Tel Aviv, Israel
2010 Project 3, 5 Positionen, Sylva Denzler Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2010 New in Photography- Recent Acquisitions, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2008 Israel is Real, Kansas City Jewish Museum,Kansas city, USA
2008 Mirror, Mirror, Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2007 Moods and Modes in Israeli Photography, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2007 Water in Art and life, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2007 Current Visions # 2, Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, NY, USA
2001 Hands, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
1998 Club Kunstsalon Sommerpalais Harrach, Vienna, Austria
1997 Artists House, Jerusalem, Israel
1993 To live in Jerusalem, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Awards
2014 Mifal Hapis grant for the arts, Israel
2009 The Constantiner Award for an Israeli Photographer, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
Collections
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
Norton Museum of Art, Florida, USA
Shpilman institute for Photography, Israel
Private collections in Israel, USA, and Europe
Jun 30, 2014
Mar 13, 2014
Jan 28, 2014
Oct 05, 2011
May 14, 2011
Feb 22, 2011
Feb 10, 2011
Oct 15, 2009
Sep 21, 2009
Recent News
October 14, 2014
Naomi Leshem, Kristina,Archival Pigment Print,92x92cm, 2006-2010
Naomi Leshem, installation detail,Der Mensch erschafft seinen Gott, 2014
March 27, 2014
Matan Ben Tolila,Raft,150×185 ,2014,oil on canvas
March 15, 2014
Naomi Leshem, Midbar13 Archival Pigment Print, 80x80cm ,2013
January 9, 2014
Naomi Leshem, Centered, Installation view, courtesy of Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York