with Merav and
Halil, 9:14 min.
“The power of art is that you understand meaning without words.”
— Halil Balabin
We are pleased to invite you to view a new video profile about the work and practice of artists Merav Kamel & Halil Balabin. In the video profile, Merav and Halil discuss their interdisciplinary and collaborative practice that spans sculpture, drawing, painting, and site-specific installations. They speak to the importance of craft in their intuitive artmaking process, which includes sewing and carving figurines (pictured above). Weaving together factual biography with fictional storytelling, Merav and Halil create vibrant stories in their work that are at times surreal, folkloristic, humorous, and ironic.
Merav Kamel & Halil Balabin live and work in Tel Aviv. They received their BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (Kamel in 2012, Balabin in 2014). They have been working together since 2012. Their interdisciplinary work shifts among different techniques and practices, from hand-sewing hybrid figures, to drawing, painting, sculpture and site-specific installations. Their research investigates human society and modern culture through a provocative yet ironic practice, which is at times surrealistic and folkloristic, but also critical and serious. Their work focuses on gender issues, sexuality, power and control, and represents fears, weaknesses, and desires of our contemporaneity.
In the Studio with Merav Kamel and Halil Balabin, 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 and Sternthal Books, 2023.
