Nelly Agassi

Nelly Agassi born 1973, Tel Aviv. Lives and works in Chicago.

Agassi’s work process is full of obsessive, repetitive, sisyphean actions, which function as a gripping point, as a sole possibility, as a connection to reality, to safe ground. Her work represents an important and fascinating transition in the feminist thinking and practice of the nineties, a transition from a declared engagement with feminism to an existent engagement with femininity. This is, to a large extent, a post-feminist stage, which entails an engagement with the private and the intimate, not from the starting-point of social immobility or of weakness, but from a starting-point of privilege and of choice. Agassi’s works do echo the traditional, domestic, women’s crafts – embroidery, sewing, knitting – but her use of these materials is not conventional, certainly not functional, and accumulates a different resonance that stems from the sober awareness of the moment of choice.

Agassi had numerous solo exhibitions. Among others, she exhibited in the Nahum Gutman Museum (Tel Aviv), Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (Chicago), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Tel Aviv), Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art (Herzliya). She was part of various group exhibitions, including in the Tate Modern (London), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Zacheta National Gallery of Art (Warsaw), Design Museum (Milano). During her career, Agassi won numerous awards and prizes, e.g. she was awarded the Nathan Gottesdiener Foundation for Israeli Art Prize of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2003. Her works are featured in the collections of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Israel Museum (Jerusalem). Her works are featured in the collections of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Israel Museum (Jerusalem).