Studio with New Barbizon',
12:18 min.
When you work alone, you have the danger of falling into your own clichés, like repeating yourself. But when you have other painters [around you] that you love and respect, you learn from them. – Artist Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi
We are pleased to invite you to view a new video profile about the work and practice of the New Barbizon. Artists Olga Kundina, Natalia Zourabova, Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi, Anna Lukashevsky, and Maria Pomiansky discuss their individual artistic backgrounds and the forming of a collective called, New Barbizon, in 2010.
The name “New Barbizon,” was derived from the Barbizon School, a group of artists in the 1800s, who stepped out of their studios in order to portray realism in their painting, most notably landscapes. The idea behind New Barbizon was to return to painting from direct observation, but in this case, to focus on socially charged areas of contemporary urban spaces.
Through their joint work and individual practices–influenced and shaped by their Soviet upbringing and their subsequent migration to Israel– Kundina, Zourabova, Cherkassky-Nnadi, Lukashevsky, and Pomiansky are committed to presenting an ever changing day-to-day reality. The New Barbizon Group showcases ideas of belonging concurrently to a past, a present, and a modified tradition of art making. While the group has a clear identity as a collective, each member continues to keep their individual style and vision intact.
New Barbizon was founded in 2010 by five painters, born in the former Soviet Union, who live and work in Israel. The group’s name refers to the Barbizon School of painters who were active in 19th-century France and championed landscape painting from direct observation, outside of the studio, linking painterly realism with a blunt view of social reality. When they formed as a collective in 2010, members of the New Barbizon adopted the name and the declarative character of the historical Barbizon School and celebrated painting by observation, evoking important questions about thinking from within and outside of tradition, and examining the interplay between individual and collective practices.
Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi is originally from Kiev, Ukraine. In 1991, she immigrated to Israel, and attended HaMidrasha School of Art at Beit Berl College. Her work has been shown at international institutions, including Circle1 Gallery Berlin, Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin, Guelman Gallery Moscow, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2018, the Israel Museum held a mid-career survey of her work. Cherkassky’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Jewish Museum New York, Jewish Museum Berlin, Jewish Museum Vienna, the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Doron Sebbag Art Collection. Cherkassky currently lives and works in Tel Aviv.
Olga Kundina holds an MA from the Institute for the Graphic Arts, Moscow (1985-1990). She immigrated to Israel in 1990, and is currently a lecturer at the Arts Institute, Tel Hai College. Her work has been shown at De Appel Amsterdam (2020), Erez Israel Museum, Tel Aviv (2019), Hamidrasha Gallery (2019), Museum of Art, Ein Harod (2017), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2016), Haifa Museum of Art (2014), and Circle1 Gallery Berlin. Her work is included in public and private collections in Israel and internationally, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Negev Museum of Art, Bar-David Museum, Israel Makov collection, and the Discount Bank Art collection.
Anna Lukashevsky is originally from Lithuania, and immigrated to Israel in 1997. She studied graphic design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and art at HaMidrasha School of Art at Beit Berl College. Lukashevsky has had solo shows at the Haifa Museum of Art (2022), Bat Yam Museum of Art (2017) and Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv. As part of the New Barbizon Group, she has exhibited her work in Israel, the United States (New York, Austin), Berlin, Prague, and other places internationally. Lukashevsky currently lives and works in Haifa.
Maria Pomiansky was born in Moscow, and studied graphic design at the Moscow College of Art and Design. She completed a BA in Fine Arts at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, as well as an MA in scenography and an MA in Fine Arts at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Pomiansky’s work has been shown in exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad. In 2021, Pomiansky was awarded the prestigious Swiss Art Award. Pomiansky currently lives and works in Zurich and Tel Aviv.
Natalia Zourabova is originally from Moscow, Russia. She studied at the Russian Academy of Theater Art in Moscow and the University of Arts in Berlin. Zourabova has had a number of solo shows throughout her career, including at Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv (2014), Noga Gallery, Tel Aviv (2012), Janco Dada Museum, Ein-Hod (2005), and at the Iragui Gallery in Russia (2008, 2013). She has participated in group shows internationally including, the Mediterranean Biennale (2013), Salaisons in Paris (2010), and the Vasternorrland Museum in Sweden (2000). Her works are part of the permanent collections of the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Zourabova currently lives and works in Tel Aviv.
In the Studio with New Barbizon, is part of a series of artist video profiles featuring artists based in Israel who are recipients of the Artis Grant for Exceptional Work in Uncertain Times. The video was created by Artis, edited and directed by Ian Sternthal, and produced by Sternthal Books. All rights reserved by Artis, 2022.
