Artis

"No Soul for Sale–A Festival of Independents" will bring together 40 independent forces from around the world that uniquely animate contemporary art (not-for-profit organizations, alternative institutions, artists' collectives and independent enterprises). All floors of X Initiative will be utilized by the groups to simultaneously present art, music, performances, and publications.

Artis is pleased to participate by presenting two commissioned projects for the festival. Tel Aviv Street artist Know Hope has his NY premiere creating a new site-specific installation located on the 4th floor of X.  This work continues a narrative began a year ago, based on an un-named figure, a manifestation of universal human vulnerability, observing, experiencing and commenting on different stages and situations of despair, hope and discovery. Through the use of a vocabulary of iconography such as the figure, electricity poles, tree stumps, broken televisions and billboards, the artist creates a metaphoric world reflecting the one we live in. Hearts figure into all of the works, and Know Hope has said, “I hope to move heavy hearts at least one inch to the side by confessing that I'm petrified and secretly in love with the world.”

Know Hope works both on the street and in the gallery.  His installations incorporate painted backdrops, paper paste-ups, and cardboard, a material easily found everywhere that makes the content of the pieces physical and relates to the urgency of creating temporary art for the street - the liability and rough fragility of the struggle. The artist has also produced a 4-page newspaper, The Anytimes, that will be distributed at X and guerilla-style throughout the city.

Know Hope was born in 1986 in California, currently resides in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has worked in the streets for several years and participated in exhibitions in Israel, UK, Norway, Italy, Canada, and presently has an exhibition at Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles. www.thisislimbo.com 

For the past 4 years, Know Hope has been showing his work in galleries and exhibitions worldwide, but mainly on the streets, in their natural urban settings. Know Hope deals with the ephemeral aspect of not only the genre itself, but also as a subject - the need of momentary connections in the everyday reality, and the common denominator that is the human struggle.

Through site specific installations, murals and paste-ups, Know Hope attempts to create situations that happen in real time, and are accessible to the public on a day-to-day basis, with intentions of creating some sort of a dialogue.

Know Hope sees gallery work as a completely different mindset as that of working in the street. Street art is about reacting to the surroundings, to an existing reality and becoming part of it, thus making the piece itself blend in and become as significant as the environment in which it is placed, whereas the gallery is a much safer environment, which can function as a greenhouse in some manners. The separation is vital, and Know Hope believes that it is impossible to recreate or bring the street indoors, but on the other hand allows the artist to create an environment of his own. The same process is valid for the viewer himself, because the context in which the pieces are seen inevitably affects the experience.

For the past year, Know Hope's work has been revolving around the story of an un-named figure, following it and creating some sort of lifeline through its observations, mishaps and eventually its commentary. The figure is the visual manifestation of the human vulnerability addressed in all the pieces.

Subtly making social commentary, Know Hope is very cautious about making the pieces accessible, and therefore prefers not to address the issues themselves, but the minor human conditions that compose those same issues, thus creating a language that does not depend on specific current issues, but more on their universal aspect.

The re-occurring figure is used as a way for the viewer to create a “long-term relationship”, so to speak, with the character. Through different stages and situations of despair, hope and discovery, the narrative is an ever-developing one. Through the use of a vocabulary of iconography such as electricity poles, tree stumps, broken televisions and billboards, a whole world is created and is used as a visual metaphor of the world in which we live. In the gallery pieces the photographic backgrounds function as a substitute for the urban background which is provided organically in the street works.

The majority of the pieces are made out of cardboard, a choice based not only on the aesthetics of the medium, but on the essence of the material. Cardboard is often used to make boxes, to contain objects and transfer them from one place to the other, only to be discarded immediately after- it is always available, somebody else’s trash.

The use of cardboard makes the content of the pieces physical- the urgency of creating temporary art for the street, and the liability and rough fragility of the same struggle addressed before.