Shay Zilberman creates his collages by combining existing images produced by various artists, most of whom remain anonymous. He cuts them from books, magazines and journals to create visual hybrids, surprising and exciting cross-breeds of images and materials. In the printed materials he finds, collects and acquires, the presence of time is prominent. The pages he works with are remnants of a material world that is disappearing, but he uses them to create a new world of his own. The very simple handiwork, which basically entails cutting and pasting, represents an extinct technique in a world that is controlled by Photoshop and its derivatives.

Zilberman’s focus on what exists and is commonplace suggests that everything has already been found and invented, and it only remains to choose and point at what is important. His approach to materials and images has an aspect of preservation, as well as ecological savings. Moreover, nostalgia is also readymade. The use of a manual technique and existing images rescues the technique and images from being lost and forgotten. And, nonetheless, in an unavoidable circular process, it brings new artistic objects into the world.

Curator: Ruth Direktor