Eye of the Storm
2018
Solo Exhibition @ Balcont
Curated by Yair Barak
׳The Eye of the Storm is catastrophe’s silent heart. It is a utopian center, perceivable to us only through satellite imagery. No one is present at the Eye of the Storm; it is the center that fends off, a propelling engine of destructive energy. Uncertainty and a constant state of threat and horror is a precondition to the set of images and objects in Ilona Balaga’s new solo exhibition - a reality created by a long-standing process of neo-liberalism and unrestrained capitalism.
Balaga is a young artist operating in a self-made artist compound, renovated and erected in a building designated for architectural conservation in the corner of Yehuda Halevi and Yavne St. just at the entrances to one of the light rail station construction sites. There is no set date for evacuation of the compound, thus the stay in it is accompanied by a constant threat of immediate evacuation, which hangs like a sword on the necks of the resident artists. Balaga’s work stretches from the private residential struggle of daily economy and function, to thoughts of global domination and major themes of acquisition and supervision.'
Photography: Yuval Hai