Isa Ho | Chelouche Gallery | 31.08.2018

“I wanted to capture how, after living in an apartment for over 30 years, the space becomes inextricably entwined with its inhabitant.”

With this sentence, Taiwanese artist Isa Ho perfectly describes the essence of her photographic series Westbeth Project, which will be on display at Chelouche Gallery (Tel Aviv, Israel) from August 31st to October 6th, 2018.

This personal exhibition stems from the partnership between Arte Laguna Prize and Chelouche Gallery, which has selected Isa Ho as the winner of the Special Prize “Artist in Gallery” for the 12th edition of Arte Laguna Prize.

This is an ongoing project that Isa Ho started in 2013 and is aimed at portaying the residents of Westbeth Artists Housing. Since the 1970s, Westbeth Artists Housing has been accommodating for cheaper rents elderly artists from all over the world, providing an ideal environment for artists to devote themselves entirely to their art until they pass away. This project aims at capturing these artists and their individual perspectives on life and creativity.

The photographs in the Westbeth series portray each artist residing in their living environment. Through Isa’s photographs, the viewer can meet the artists and observe the lack of distinction between life and artistic creation, deciphering clues in the backgrounds and interpreting these portraits through their own perspective.

With this series, Isa Ho tackles important issues such as the deceptive nature of memory, the importance of independence in artistic communities and also the difficulties of an ageing society. As she says: “Living and working alongside these residents made me examine my preconceived notion of a successful artist”, reminding us that there are many possibilities to look at things, life, and creativity.

Westbeth Project from 31.08 to 6.10.2018 at Chelouche Gallery for contemporary art – opening 31.08.2018 at 12pm. .

Exhibition catalogue >