Alex Levac: Black Box
Please note: The exhibition is on view at the Eyal Ofer Pavilion, 6 Tarsat Boulevard, Tel Aviv
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Just as the camera is an inseparable part of Alex Levac’s body, his photographs are inseparable from the local culture. Levac (b. 1944, Tel Aviv) has become synonymous with a virtuoso gift for recognizing the absurd essence in an everyday moment and for capturing what simmers beneath the surface. His photographic language moves along the axis between humor and dread; often, a single object, figure, animal, or text caught in the frame is enough to unsettle reality as we know it. This interplay of contrasts runs through each individual photograph and through the encounters between them; it is bound up with Levac’s own persona: on one hand, an active, politically engaged photojournalist who uses the camera to bring the repressed into view; on the other, a street photographer who works like a visual anthropologist, clean of preconceptions, enticing the viewer with wit and humanity.
This retrospective exhibition, the first of its scope and kind, seeks to establish Levac’s standing as an artist-photographer within the museum, unfolding as a journey through time. It begins with his travels to South America, followed by his photography studies in London and his years in England. It continues through the Bus 300 affair, a journalistic career in a reality of violent conflict, and finally, the art of street photography, a practice that remains part of his daily routine to this day. The power of these photographs lies in their cumulative value: over the years, the past they depict takes on renewed clarity and relevance. Presenting them together at this moment in time creates a “black box” offering a chronicle of a place; a look into the past that sends its signals into the future.
In her seminal book Regarding the Pain of Others (2003), American writer and critic Susan Sontag highlighted the ethical complexities inherent in viewing images of suffering and called for a re-examination of photography’s role in shaping humanity and morality. Levac’s work brings this question to the fore: looking unflinchingly at a reality defined by conflict, he nevertheless insists on a compassionate gaze, refusing to let the viewer succumb to indifference.
The photographs in the exhibition were selected from the ens of thousands in Levac’s archive. Most are analog silver prints he developed in the darkroom, alongside black-and-white and color photographs printed specifically for this exhibition. Fifty of Levac’s works recently entered the Tel Aviv Museum of Art collection, through the “Voting for Art” Acquisition Group.
Alex Levac, Tel Aviv Beach, 1996
Courtesy of the artist
The exhibition was made possible by The Exhibition Circle of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art: Doron and Marianne Livnat, The Herta and Paul Amir Foundation, The Kirsh Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Additional support was provided by The Print House and Artglass
