No one needs convincing of the absolute beauty of a frozen fountain. The sound of the water is replaced by silence, and the bustle of the city gives way to a new visual spectacle, which dons a crown or a sparkling jewel when freezing. Such a sight, revealed to the artist in a European city, inspired this exhibition; a moment that encapsulates the miracle of the water, which turned into stone and became a sculpture. That simple miracle, a basic law concerning the change of state of aggregation from liquid to solid and back, takes place in Sima Gil’s work through materials, such as ceramic and glass, in which the scope of material transformation requires technical knowhow, but also summons nourishing experiences.<\/p>\n
Two fountains are at the heart of the exhibition: one, made of ceramic and glass, simulates a frozen fountain; the other, shaped like a portrait of the artist, is filled with tears flowing from her eyes. An architectural element usually located in city centers and gardens, offering a focal point for human encounters, the fountain derives its structures and movement from nature and is activated by a cyclical, self-feeding system of flowing water.<\/p>\n
Under the spell of winter, when the temperatures drop below zero and visitors become scarce, the hands of nature replace the work of man. The fountain\u2014an artificial micro-nature\u2014is magnetized into time and space, ostensibly freezing with them. In its frozen state, it opens its urban door to a new cosmic order, and that moment of stillness dissolves the binary opposition between the artificial and the natural, and between the personal-private and the public.<\/p>\n
The works also conjure up the tragic story of Niobe from Greek mythology, whose deep grief continued to make her eyes tear endlessly like a stream, even after a curse petrified her body and turned her into stone. Her human body transformed into an eternal nature. When the waters of sorrow flow from the windows of the soul (the eyes), the body is like a fountain. In the human body, the mechanics of the urban fountain become mechanics based on emotion, which is the fountain\u2019s engine. Much like Niobe’s story, the magnitude of emotion far exceeds that of the body.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lea Avital<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Saturday 28.12.25<\/strong>, at 12pm | Gallery Talk in the exhibition, with the artist Sima Gil and\u00a0\u00a0the curator Lea Avital<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12361,"template":"","categories":[108],"artists":[5427],"exhibition":[5430],"curator":[5429],"years":[5236],"class_list":["post-12216","exhibitions","type-exhibitions","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nidbach-en","artists-sima-gil","exhibition-niobe-exhibition-in-the-24th-nidbach-series","curator-lea-avital","years-2024-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions\/12216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/exhibitions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12216"},{"taxonomy":"artists","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artists?post=12216"},{"taxonomy":"exhibition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition?post=12216"},{"taxonomy":"curator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/curator?post=12216"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/years?post=12216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}