At first the series of works presented in the exhibition Shmura looks like a series of abstract expressionism with a uniform color palette and intuitive treatment. However, a second look exposes an on-going act on various levels combining planned making on a ground imitating matza made from porcelain, the action of a silkworm and free painting. The exact square form expresses an act and thought that questions concepts such as: timeline, nature, perishable, eternal and art.
The series of works juxtapose different worlds that can be opposed: the ground/matza from porcelain which when fired at a high temperature becomes a material surface that is fragile but does not decompose for years, durable over time. This object waits with endless patience for the future archaeologist and simultaneously exposes the action of a silkworm with a lifespan of a few days who in this time spins a cocoon of fine, delicate threads, a fragile home that will decompose and a mesh of thread that will be destroyed with the stroke of a hand. This contact creates undermining tension and questions the timeline, the fragility of basic tenets, and what appears to be obvious and can be destroyed with unbearable ease.
A visit to the Aviv matza factory in Bnei Brak and his amazement at the process of making matza was the inspiration for Udi Charka to make matza from porcelain. The works were made in small series each spring, the season when silkworms spin their cocoons as part of their lifecycle. Over the years the works collected became a large body of work of several tens of objects. The artistic practice of Charka became a cyclical occurrence in accordance with the seasons of the year in an area that is experimental, blurred and decomposes. The repetitive, cumulative nature of the action over the years is the strength of the work.
The name of the exhibition Shmura has many meanings in Hebrew: Matza Shmura is matza that is very carefully made so there is no chance of it rising. The word is also used as a Nature reserve and in this sense the works in the exhibition are a defined territory – material and color evidence preserving the cyclical action of the silkworm. In addition, Shmura means protected, like the pupa protecting the worm in the metamorphosis process or the ‘protected area’ in the broad sense of the word.
Another comparison to the process of making ‘matza shmura’ is the work process of using porcelain, a ceramic material that requires in depth knowledge and precision since it is difficult to work with, untamed, warping and shrinking, requiring lots of experience. And so, the artistic, material and symbolic actions in the exhibition Shmura create a unique statement combining opposing worlds that also complement each other.
Charka is a multi-disciplinary artist moving between sculpture, drawing and ceramics. In this exhibition the combination of the various media is very prominent, and it is not clear if we are seeing a painting? Sculpture? If it matters at all? The drawing on the threads and cocoons is rough (besides a few fine pencil drawings) and the color palette is limited: almost exclusively black and red with small additions of blue. Added to this is the yellow of the cocoons and threads and occasionally the white of the porcelain peeps through and the brown that imitates the matza. Charka is not enticed to draw images or narratives on the porcelain slabs, using color as a material and allowing for the natural action of the material.
Charka’s works usually include letters and words but, in this series, they are almost never present. The works create a hazy, murky atmosphere, blurred evidence in search of the unclear as if viewed through half closed eyes. Charka creates an everlasting artistic action (porcelain) but perishable (cocoon of the silkworm). In these works, in the exhibition, he is on the fringe of artistic practice questioning its meaning. The exhibition Preserved is an invitation to observe an artistic act, unique and sublime, at the same time being anti-artistic and trivial.
Udi Charka is a graduate of the Midrasha, the Art Faculty of the Beit Berl Academy. He is a teacher in the art department of the Yeshiva of Art and Science “Bar Ilan” in Tel Aviv. Charka has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in museums and art galleries in Israel. He also teaches wheel throwing in his studio in Mazkeret Batia.
Curator: Shlomit Bauman
Opening: Thursday, 2/1/25, 19:30
Gallery talk at Benyamini Center: Friday, 31/1/25, 11:30
Closing: Saturday, 15/2/25, 14:00
Journalism:
Udi Charka: Shmura, MutualArt
