The exhibition “Houses in Pain” by artist and architect Nini Warschawski invites the viewer to embark on an enchanted journey from the intimate crossroads between architecture and art, where a house becomes a metaphorical tool to express the complexity of the human experience.
The project began ten years ago, when the artist began planning and building a house for himself and his family at the Ein Hod Artists Village. The architect’s personal experience in building his own house, which involved a range of emotions and tensions that undermined the interpersonal relationships in the family, led him to the understanding that focusing on the external appearance is liable to cover up and conceal problems between the inhabitants that occur beyond the walls. This understanding led him to examine and document his previous houses to attempt to decipher memories and emotions associated with every space. The exhibition includes pages from Warschawski’s journal, arranged in chronological order, containing sketches, thoughts and tasks that the artist crossed out, providing a fascinating glimpse into his personal history. Each page serves as a small window onto his journey, inviting the viewer to think about the houses, the lives lived within them, the documented experiences and emotions expressed within the walls they call home. Thus, Warschawski becomes an architect who confronts and embraces pain as the material of his work. This finds expression in the facades of houses resembling tombstones, symbolizing the inherent pain buried within.
The viewer is invited to embark on the fascinating journey of this exhibition, which focuses on the power that is inherent within houses beyond their external magic. These spaces contain the weight of earliest memories and sometimes also the seeds of profound pain. Each house we create embodies a promise of sorts, a striving for consolation and an attempt to heal the wounds of the past.
The artist’s personal journey combines his work as an architect with his experience in building a dream and his disillusionment in realizing it. The exposure of these hidden layers of pain through his professional work sheds light on the rift and gap between the shiny surfaces and the profound narratives inherent in them. In setting out on this journey, the artist looks honestly within himself and reevaluates these houses in order to unravel the emotions, memories and stories unfolding behind their closed doors.
Curator:
Nitsan Shuval-Abiri
