The new solo exhibition by the artist Ayala Netzer, in the absence of any other motive, beauty is a reason to live , disguises itself as a botanical exhibition and is carefully displayed behind glass with a serious face. The paintings are presented as frozen finds at a time when at the same time also transient moments are depicted: plants that were available to the offspring, that passed through her head or that embodied momentary feelings and sensations.
The pace of transitions between images in the video work is reminiscent of flipping through a notebook. The scrolling is accompanied by a melancholy soundtrack, in which the artist reads excerpts from her personal diary. The rate of turnover of images at work mimics Netzer's difficulty in grasping and cultivating connections. They pass and disappear without the ability to capture and preserve them. In the video work the beetles illustrate the conflict: on the one hand the seductive beauty, and on the other hand their destructive power as they bite and consume the plants and flowers around them. On the one hand, Netzer uses beetles as an alter-ego for destructive internal forces that take place within her, hidden from view, and on the other hand, the beetles writhing on their backs, powerless, describe her helplessness in social situations, where she struggles to understand the environment and falls silent.
The colorful paintings convey lightness, liveliness, passion, sexuality and love, and on the other hand the pain and loneliness scream from them. The works in this exhibition deal with the artist's failure, time and time again, to connect with others, while the paintings manage to act as mediators in a delicate and muted intimate dialogue between her and the objects of her painting. Under her hands are disguised figures who change, enter and leave her life, disguised as one species or another from the plant world. The blocked conversation and the closeness to which Netzer longs are made possible through the paintings.
The presentation of the works as impressions of pain and longing indicates a deeper and more universal connection that was concerned with the relationship between man and nature. Nature serves as an undercover, subliminal and healing agent in moments when our loneliness and abnormality are emphasized, and we feel that in the absence of another motive, beauty is a reason to live.

Ayala Netzer holds a master's degree in arts from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and a bachelor's degree in video from the Department of Screen Arts, the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Undergraduate student in textile design at Shenkar. Works mainly in the mediums of drawing, video and animation. Her films have been shown in Israel and around the world, including at the Haifa Film Festival, the Musrara Mix Festival, the video incubator at the Fresh Paint Festival, the Petah Tikva Museum of Art and more. Presented a solo exhibition at the Midrasha Gallery, the 19 Yarkon Gallery and participated in many group exhibitions, including the Raw Art Gallery, the Al-Tzuk Gallery, the Binyamin Gallery, the Hanina Gallery and more.

Gabi Hamburg-Pima, curator and director of the art department of the University Botanical Garden in Jerusalem.
She is a graduate of the MA program in the policy and theory of the arts from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and holds a bachelor's degree from the Department of Video Photography and Computer Imaging at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. As a curator, she has worked in public and alternative spaces and curated theme and research exhibitions in Israel and abroad. The Hamburg-Pima projects touch on the relationship between art in general and photography in particular and collective consciousness and memory. Curated and the projects in which she was involved examine in depth the power of art as a tool for education, empowerment and community connection. Theory and practice and embodies a promise to create a fruitful dialogue between themes and local and international artists.

The gallery space is located in the structure of the tropical greenhouse
Gallery opening hours:
Sunday: 10:00 - 13:00 Monday-Thursday: 10:00 - 17:00
Friday: 9:00 - 14:00 Saturday: 9:00 - 15:00

Events during the exhibition:
Friday 3.6.22 at 11:00 - "Diary Art" Gallery talk - with the participation of the artists Ayala Netzer and Jennifer Avisra.
Thursday 23.6.22 at 17:00 - "Drawing flowers with your finger" Workshop for children led by the artist Ayala Netzer.
Friday 15.7.22 at 11:00 - Gallery talk - with the participation of the artist Ayala Netzer and the art critic Gilad Meltzer.
Thursday 4.8.22 at 16:00 - "Drawing flowers with a finger" Workshop for children led by the artist Ayala Netzer.

Admission to the exhibition is included in the price of admission to the garden:
Adult 40? / Child 35? / Disabled 18? /
Retiree-Student-Soldier 25? / Jerusalem Card Holders 28? Free admission for garden subscribers

Givat Ram University Botanical Garden,
For more details: 02-6794012 and on the website www.botanic.co.il

הגן הבוטני האוניברסיטאי גבעת רם זלמן שניאור 1 ירושלים