Partnerships and Exhibitions
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), in association with ZAZ Corner, presents Tunnels of the Mind, a selection of 18 recent works by SFAI-affiliated artists, appearing on a Jumbotron in Times Square, New York City, starting at 7am on June 10th, 2020 and running through June 15, 2020 at midnight.
Tunnels of the Mind is the first in a year-long series of events marking SFAI’s 150th anniversary that will include programs and exhibitions presented in partnership with leading artists and arts organizations around the world. The dates, June 10 through 15 (10x15=150), were chosen in honor of SFAI’s 150-year anniversary.
Curated by SFAI Film Department Chair Orit Ben Shitrit, the selection of work reveals a vast diversity of forms and voices, a signature of SFAI’s highly personal and multi-disciplinary approach to art. Tunnels of the Mind spans distinct forms of moving image including, but not limited to: Structuralist Film, Video Art, Animation, Nonlinear Narrative, Detritus Cinema, Dance on Film, Computer Generated/ 3D, Experimental Film.
“In Tunnels of the Mind, artists reveal their internal worlds: at once subversive, queer, extra-territorial, and otherworldly,” says Ben Shitrit. “Art can encourage empathy, and it is the highest form of hope. When our reality is devastating—with troubling racist killings and social inequality exacerbated by a pandemic—the imagination can offer a refuge and lead us to discover new possibilities.”
Click HERE to see the artists works.
About the San Francisco Art Institute
Founded in 1871, SFAI is one of the country's oldest and most prestigious institutions committed to the practice and study of contemporary art. SFAI fosters creativity and original
thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary context, and has played a central role in many contemporary art movements including Abstract Expressionism, Bay Area Figuration, Color Field, California Funk, and the Mission School. Celebrated artists who have studied or taught at SFAI include Ansel Adams, Mark Rothko, David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, Joan Brown, Barry McGee, Sharon Lockhart, Alicia McCarthy, and Kehinde Wiley.
Zeina Barakeh, Her Art Making Headlines
July 14, 2020
By Zéna ZALZAL
From Ras Beirut in 2006 to Times Square in 2020. In the space of 14 years, this Lebanese-Palestinian artist has managed to make a name, a career, and an enviable position for herself on the American art scene. The proof: one of her works presented on one of the giant billboards in Times Square, the heart of Manhattan, last June.
What artist wouldn't dream of having their art displayed on one of those giant billboards that make Times Square so famous? Zeina Barakeh experienced that dream from June 10th to June 15th. When, as part of the “Tunnels of The Mind” exhibition (see below), the giant LED screen belonging to the ZAZ Corner digital gallery, located at the corner of 41st Street and 7th Avenue, continuously presented an animated video bearing her signature and mixing two of her previous works: “Homeland Insecurity” and “Slam Bang Blue.”
On a giant billboard from ZAZ Corner in Times Square, images from two animated works by Zeina Barakeh. Photo DR
June 12, 2020
By Sam Whiting
“Tunnels of the Mind”, the video installation on the tower, could be seen as a marketing tool for that. The two-night display in San Francisco, which runs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, June 13, will also be seen for five days and nights on a Jumbotron in Times Square in New York. That installation is a partnership with with ZAZ 10 Times Square.
The curator, Ben Shitrit, is proud to be part of SFAI, even though she moved from New York just two years ago, only to be laid off and out of a paycheck come September.
“There are complicated sentiments regarding SFAI,” she said. “But what matters is that it is a magical place. There is nothing like it.”
Seven Dreams
June, 2020
Artists: Haipei Han, Yan Jin, Haemi Kim, Terrance Purdy, Jr., Jinglin Wang, Yang Yang, Weihan Zhou
Organized by Ben Hagari
The screening program presents seven videos created by students from the MFA in Photo, Video and Related Media at The School of Visual Arts. The short videos (excerpts from longer works) can be seen as personal dreams on screen; perception of inner and outer worlds; journeys and dances in cityscape.
Click HERE to see the artists works.
About MFA Photography, Video and Related Media at SVA
Founded in 1988, the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media program at the School of Visual Arts nurtures interdisciplinary activity, multimedia integration and provides ever-expanding opportunities for lens-based students; we continually push the boundaries of the techniques, theory, and practice of the developing technologies. Our students are encouraged to rethink their own assumptions and engage an enlightened audience, not only visually but also contextually. We provide the critical thinking and visual literacy necessary for students to expand their ideas and make notable contributions to culture. The department’s celebrated faculty actively engages students in contemporary and responsible creative initiatives, including experimental, narrative and documentary video; installation and conceptual art; and tableau and real-world-witness photography. For over thirty years, the department has produced remarkable graduates who have flourished as exhibiting artists, journalists, curators, scholars, and teachers.
Lightbox, an experiential events venue with a digital art & tech program, will draw upon its expertise to curate a unique editorial selection of new media digital artworks in collaboration with ZAZ10TS. Working with a mix of emerging and established digital artists, the captivating images will be brought to life on the billboard’s large LED screen.
“Lightbox is thrilled partner with ZAZ10TS as we share a mutual interest in bringing our corner of the city to life and in turn, creating a space for talented digital artists to share their inspiring works,” - Daphné Jouanneteau, CEO of Lightbox.
For a full list of featured artists by Lightbox CLICK HERE and see the recording of the billboard excerpts HERE
February 24, 2020
By Sarah Cascone
Editors’ Picks: 21 Things Not to Miss in New York’s Art World This Week
Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
18. “Lightbox: Digital Art Series Nature” at ZAZ10TS
Among the wall-to-wall ads that plaster facades in Times Square, one LED billboard is now completely given over to art. The ZAZ Corner, a new project from ZAZ10TS, offers a respite from the bustling intersection’s sensory overload, with an inaugural selection of digital artworks inspired by nature. Featured artists include Reo, Catalysee, and Jon Burgerman. The corner gallery will continue with a new theme and new work next month.
Inside Out: Video Art During Quarantine | June 29th & 30th
ZAZ Corner again partners with The Screen Based Art Department of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design to present "Inside Out: Video Art During Quarantine". The works in this program were created by the Screen Based Arts students to capture the insane situation we are all experiencing during the quarantine. The word "CAMERA" means "CHAMBER" in latin. In the hands of our students, it reflects the physical and mental challenges we are all going through ever since everything came to a screeching halt when this all started. The videos will be on the ZAZ Corner billboard June 29th & 30th. For a full list of featured students HERE. Organized by Sharon Balaban
Bezalel Academy’s Screen Based Arts partners with ZAZ Corner | March 31-May 31
Bezalel Academy’s Screen Based Arts department selected twenty video of students and graduates from recent years to participate in the ZAZ Corner. The videos have been selected from a perspective of the unique public space in which they are presented in, and with a desire to relate to the environment that symbols the culmination of consume society. "We’re thrilled to collaborate with ZAZ Corner. It is a great honor to showcase our student's works in this exceptional visionary project," says Sharon Balaban, the head of the Video Program at the Screen Arts Department, and curator.
For a full list of featured artists by Bezalel CLICK HERE and see the recording of the billboard excerpts HERE. Organized by Sharon Balaban.
March 3, 2021
By Hagit Peleg Rotem
שרון בלבן: זו שעתם של המסכים, נקודה. יפה ומכוערת גם יחד
שרון בלבן מציגה בגלריה החדשה של סמינר הקיבוצים את העבודה ״הבהוב״, המשלבת משחק בין הגוף לעולם דיגיטלי. כראש המסלול לווידאו במחלקה לאמנויות המסך בצלאל, היא מנתחת את השיבוש שחל בעולם שעבר כולו למפגשים מרחוק
June 30, 2020
By BJLIfe/Sharon Altshul
Lights from Jerusalem On Broadway (Video)
The Broadway League has announced that all productions will remain closed through at least January 3, 2021. Governor Andrew Cuomo's mass gathering restrictions of March 12, closed down most of Broadway. Restaurants and other businesses dependant on the Broadway theater patrons and crowds have also been impacted. Over the past months, there have been multiple announcements from former popular eateries with plans to not reopen.
However, not all the lights of Broadway have been out.
The ZAZ10 billboard art gallery’s ‘Inside Out’ exhibition is located on the corner of 41st Street and 7th Avenue in New York City. From March to May, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem’s Department of Screen-Based Arts lit up the digital billboard art gallery located over the prominent corner of Times Square.
May 21, 2020
Written by Barry Davis
Bezalel artworks light up New York's Times Square
A full 20 works, produced by Bezalel students and graduates, have been brightening up a corner of New York’s Times Square since just prior to the corona outbreak.
The trials and tribulations of the global pandemic just go on and on. And while restrictions are being alleviated, to a greater or lesser degree, in various countries, popping over to Ben-Gurion and jetting over to, say, New York for a much-desired shopping/ lounging around/ jazzy/ entertainment furlough is basically out of the question for a while. Let’s face it, given the current situation in the Big Apple, no one really knows how long it will take until flying over to a favorite destination for Israelis becomes a viable option once again.
April 18, 2020
Written by Naama Jam Posted
In the empty New York square, 20 video art works of students from the Bezalel Department of Screen Arts are featured. "It's a surreal picture," the curator admits.
Twenty video works by students of the Bezalel School of Visual Arts are currently screened in Times Square in New York. The project was created thanks to collaboration with Tzili Charney, owner of the art project ZAZ10TS, and originally designed as an outdoor exhibition in the square.
When the Corona broke out, the curators, Charney and Sharon Balaban, the head of the video track at Bezalel, were thinking of delivering the outdoor exhibit just for network viewing. Finally, it was decided to screen the films on the screens in Times Square.
If you would like to learn more about partnerships, sign up for our newsletter to receive more information below: