Ariel Schlesinger

1980
Israel / Germany / USA

Ariel Schlesinger born 1980, Jerusalem, Israel. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and New York, USA.
Schlesinger’s work unfolds through a poetic gesture into a post-minimal conceptual practice, de-functionalizing everyday objects by sensible interventions. Using a kind of destructive-constructive strategy in many of his works, Schlesinger pushes and transforms the object, creating new possibilities of understanding and enabling surprising discoveries for the viewer within something that seemed utterly familiar. Through very precise interferences, Schlesinger points towards what is already gone into a new material existence, rescuing it from disappearance and creating a new presence. His numerous works using gas and flames also explore risk and neuter a hazardous situation into one that is beautifully controlled.
Schlesinger had numerous solo exhibitions at: LWL Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster; Compton Verney, Warwickshire, UK; Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz, Basel; Kunstverein Braunschweig, Göttingen; CCA – Center of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; and more. His works were part of various group exhibitions, including in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; Kunsthaus Graz; Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden; Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna; Barcelona Contemporary Art Center; Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou; Tel Aviv Museum of Art. During his career, Schlesinger has won several awards, e.g from the AIT, Tokyo and Künstlerhäuser Worpswede. His works can be found in prestigious public and private collections, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Grand Rapids); Haaretz Collection, Tel Aviv; the LWL Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster; Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt; and others.

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