Carry That Weight

The exhibition “Carry that Weight” explores the image of a youth carrying an animal on his shoulders. It regards the image as something which passes from hand to hand, like a commodity or currency. They cross worlds, cultures, and periods, and change meanings and contents. The journey of that image has gone through various stations: In Greek culture, Kriophoros (Gr. “ram bearer”) statues perpetuated sacrifice to the gods; in the bible, the idealized figure of the shepherd served as an allegory for good leadership; in Christianity, the image was reincarnated as Christ, the Good Shepherd; and in the Zionist context, it emerged as a symbol of the pioneering ethos in pre-state Israel.

The works of the 21 participating artists extend from the 1950s to the present. They introduce a lively dialogue with the image, bifurcating into diverse narratives. Each work generates an intersection, a meeting point of one body placed on another, carrying and being carried, horizontal and vertical. It is a connection which spawns intimacy and dialogue: at times, the load becomes an extension of the body and an integral part of it; at times it is the weight on the shoulders, the burden and responsibility that must be carried; at yet other times it is a source of power and pride, loot or a sacrifice. The connection of the two bodies attests to reciprocity and various affections, such as fondness and love, compassion, or a declaration of power and ownership.
The featured works illustrate the power of the bearer image. Its idyllic-pastoral quality assumes new manifestations, which convey a myriad personal and social aspect. The works range from the shepherd figure to father-son relations, through allusions to the Sacrifice of Isaac portraying death and bereavement, as well as different representations of masculinity. Other works allude to feminine aspects, as well as to different types of burdens and the implications of the carried load on the body.