When the boundaries between reality and illusion, authenticity and fabrication, original creation and machine-generated content disappear—when 'truthiness' resonates more than facts—we are left without the judgments and safeguards of a stable framework.
My art deals with these boundaries and authorities on different levels. However, unlike the postmodern secular conception of a blur of all boundaries and safeties, I rather point towards an interpretation of the existence of different simultaneous worlds and realities as a potential space of liberation. The key to the discovery of this space is the human body, his perception abilities at which I look without irony or embarrassment.
In most of my works, I am combining several techniques such as painting, sculpting, performance, video and photography. Each work consists of different layers of consecutive but separate production processes. While the chronological order of the production processes or the relation between the different mediums used suggests a hierarchy, my core interest is to dismantle the belief in these hierarchies. Prompted by an aesthetic experience, the spectator perceives the works in a simultaneous experience of space in which all the layers are interconnected.
Michel Platnic (1970), born in France, obtained a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1994. He obtained several patents and authored many publications when he worked as an Engineer for more than a decade. He moved to Israel at 28 and found his artistic voice in his new place of residence and went on to study theatre, performance, martial arts, and dance. Realizing his inclination towards the Fine Arts, Platnic graduated in 2010 with honors in Fine Arts from the Midrasha School of Art in Israel. That very year, he received the Shpilman Grant for Excellence in Photography and was selected by ST-ART, an incubator project for young artists. In 2017, Platnic completed the Art&Media “Meisterschüler” program of the Universität der Künste (post-M.A.) in Berlin.
The creation of Platnic unfolds through multiple media including photography, video, performance, painting and the links that bring them closer together. Platnic has been creating illusionary worlds and letting the viewer become part of them. Immersion in these spaces is employed as a means of deconditioning. Observing and reenacting the rituals and symbols of power, Platnic tracks down the mechanisms that authority uses to submit, to condition and to create participants in its system. By laying out the conditions of aesthetic subversiveness (notably in his series of living paintings, with its formal work on the voluntary confusion of media), Platnic beckons us to take notice of the forces that tacitly and without our knowledge indenture us.
Exhibitions: Platnic's works have been exhibited in galleries, institutions and museums across Israel and abroad. His solo exhibitions include the Multi-Media Art Museum, Moscow (2015), The Open Museum of Photography, Tel-Hai, Israel (2014), Haifa Museum, Haifa, IL (2012), Ramat-Gan Museum, Ramat-Gan, IL (2011), Art Stage Art Fair, Singapore (2015), Gordon Gallery, Tel-Aviv (2017 & 2014) and Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel-Aviv (2013). Platnic has also participated in group exhibitions around the world including the Changjiang Biennale of Photo&Video, Changjiang Museum of Contemporary Art (2015), Gutman Museum, Tel-Aviv (2014 & 2015), Center for Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv (2011), Tel-Aviv Museum (2011), FusionsArts Museum, New York (2010), the National Academy of Arts, Kiev (2017), Galleria Continua, Boissy-le-Châtel (2015) and the Gazelli Art House, London (2013).
Press: Numerous articles have been published on Platnic works, for example in The Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, Russia, Artdaily, Asia, Ocula, Asia Pacific, Nylon Magazine, Art Times, United-States, Lifestyle Asia, Randian, China Art Times, China, Elephant Magazine, Phaidon, United Kingdom, Artribune, Artsblog, Italy, Art and Only, Switzerland, Haaretz - Galeria, Time-Out, Telavivian, Forbes, Calcalist, Ms. Use Magazine, A5 Magazine, i24News – Culture, Cable News Channel - Aroutz 98, Kol Israel Radio, Zman Avir – Channel1, Israel.
Born in France, since 2019 lives and works between Tel-Aviv and New York
Studies
2015-2017 Post-M.A. studies, Art and Media Meisterschüler at Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany
2007-2010 B.Ed. studies at Hamidrasha School of Art, Beit Berl College, Israel (with honors)
2005-2007 Fine art studies at Sadnat Omanei Hakibutzim and Universita Amamit, Israel (IL)
2001-2004 Acting studies at Yoram Levinstein Acting Studio and Theatron Hagouf, IL
1989-1994 M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering Studies at ESIEE, France
Grants, Prizes and Residencies
2023 Ministry of Culture Award for Fine Arts, Israel
MotherShip NYC Residency, New York
2019 Winner of the Esports Digital Art Prize, Hong Kong
2018 Selected to FutureHere Art&Sciences Incubator, Singapore
Winner of the Audience Award 60seconds Short Film Festival, Copenhagen
2017 Gottesman Etching Center Residency, Cabri, Israel
Yeorot Hacarmel Residency, Haifa, Israel
2010 Beit Berl Grant for Excellence in Art, Israel
Shpilman Grant for Excellence in Photography, Israel
Selected to the ST-Art incubator for young artists, Tel-Aviv
Solo Exhibitions
2023 – Living Paintings, Arielle Mark Gallery, New York
My Family Portrait, Blick, Tel Aviv
Children Playing, Around Video Art Fair, Brussels
2020 – Bordermine, Gordon Gallery, Curator: Amon Yariv, Tel-Aviv
Beyond Painting, Ephemeral space, Lara Sedbon & Raphael Durazzo, Paris
2019 – Genesis, Xposed, New York
Life Hack, Hanut Gallery, Tel-Aviv
2018 – Art Market Art Fair, Budapest (cat.)
Self-Portrait, The Lab, Tel Aviv
Men songs, Sadna Leomanut, Rishon Le-Zion, Israel
Genesis, Gordon-London House, Municipal Art Gallery, Rishon Le-Zion (cat.)
2017 – Genesis, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv (cat.)
2015 – Sphères 8, Well-Tempered, Galleria Continua, Boissy-le-Châtel, France
After, Moscow International Biennale, Multimedia Art Museum (MMAM), Moscow
After, Art Plural Gallery, Singapore
After, Art Stage Art Fair, Singapore
2014 – After, Open Museum of Photography, Tel-Hai, Israel (cat.)
After, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv
2013 – After Bacon, Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel Aviv
2012 – Good Enough Death, Haifa Museum of Contemporary Art, Haifa
2011 – Potential Space, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan
2010 – Twilight, ST-ART residency, Jaffa
Selected Performances
2023 – October Echoes, Kube Art Center, Beacon, New York
Garden Muse, Kingsland Festival, NOoSphere Arts, New York
Earthly Judgment, LastFrontierNYC, New York
2020 – Hierarchical Perception, Resilient 40, Addis Abeba
2017 – Ictus*, performance with Dan Allon, Circle1, Berlin
Ostinato, sound performance, Spektrum, Berlin
Ictus*, performance with Dan Allon, Kav16, Tel Aviv
2013 – Body Left Hanging, Minshar, Tel Aviv
BYOBeamer, Contemporary Gallery, Tel Aviv
2012 – Study of Bacon’s Portrait, Beit Kaner, Municipal Art Gallery, Rishon Le-Zion
Time/Zones, Center for Contemporary Art (C.C.A), Tel Aviv
Machol, Haifa Museum, Haifa
2011 – Ein-Sof, Bible Land Art Museum, Jerusalem
2010 – Performance festival- Oz in the city, Halalit Gallery, Tel Aviv
Profane, Alfred Gallery, Tel-Aviv
Menorah, ST-ART Residence, Jaffa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 – Back to School, Kube Art Center, Beacon, New York
Tel Aviv Biennale of Crafts and Design, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv
Thinking Ahead Forum, Imperial College, London
Nazareth, by Lara Sedbon Gallery, Paris
2022 – Ne/aga, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem
The young French Scene, act3, Bastille Design Center, Paris
NFTLV, Norman, Tel Aviv
Spring in Israel Art, Hertzl 140, Tel-Aviv
2021 – Menart Fair, Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris
Lady Mechanics, ND Gallery, Ramat Gan
2020 – Beyond Face, curated by Gil Goren, Salon Knafaim, Tel Aviv
2019 – Life Hack, Ha’hanut Gallery, Cur: Tali Kayam, Tel-Aviv
Hybrid Painting, curated by Shirley Wagner, Sklar Levy Gallery, Modiin, Israel
2018 – Festival International d’Art Video, Centre d'art contemporain L'Uzine, Casablanca
The Human Condition, A38 Gallery, Budapest
2017 – Repositioning, The Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem (cat.)
Israeli Contemporary Art, National Academy of Arts, Kiev
2016 – Hadvir, Alfred Gallery, Tel Aviv
International Photography Festival, ST-ART Gallery, Tel Aviv
2015 – Changjiang Biennale of Photo & Video, Changjiang Museum of Contemporary Art, China
I live in the East but my heart is in the West, Pasinger Fabrik, Munich
Art-sistence, Musrara, Jerusalem
2014 – Small Step to the South, Gutman Museum, Tel Aviv
Becoming, Hansen House, Jerusalem (cat.)
2013 – Window Project, Gazelli Art House, London
Two Years Later, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan (cat.)
BYOBeamer, video performance, Golconda Gallery, Tel Aviv
2012 – Painting etc., Beit Kaner, Municipal Art Gallery, Rishon Le-Zion (cat.)
Young Masters, Art Rotterdam 2012, Rotterdam (cat.)
Machol, performance with Elad Shniderman, Haifa Museum
Time/Zones, video performance, Center for Contemporary Art (C.C.A.), Tel Aviv
2011 – Facelook, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
Pixelpops, TPTP Gallery, Paris
Salon Yafo of Photography, Hangar 2, Jaffa
Venice: Memoire, Zemack Gallery, Tel Aviv
Action Photography, Dan Gallery, Tel Aviv
Today Only, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
Story Slam, Kishon Gallery, Tel Aviv
2010 – Ether, Hanina Gallery, Tel Aviv,
Obscurity, FusionArts Museum, New York
Young Israeli Artists, Artik, Antwerp
Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel Aviv
Israelism, Shay Arye Gallery, Tel Aviv
Screenings
2023 – In Between, Zaz10, Times Square, New York
2020 – EPOS, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv
Resilient40, Addis Abeba
2019 – PrintScreen Festival, Holon
Shortcutz Viseu, Viseu, Portugal
2018 – Short Film Corner, Cannes Festival, Cannes
International Moving Image Festival Golder Kuker, Sofia
Vesevo Film Festival, Naples
60seconds Short Film Festival, Copenhagen – Winner of the Audience Award
One-Off Moving Image Festival, Valencia
3minutes 3days Film Festival, Baghdad
International Film Festival Tonneins, France
International Time Lapse and Stop Motion Festival, Molina de Aragón, Spain
The Joyce Forum Short Film Festival, San Diego
2017 – Genesis-de-Genesis, Jerusalem Film Festival, Jerusalem
2009 – Les Passants, Zman Avir, Broadcast program, Channel One, Israel
Les Passants, CineForte6, Cinematheque of Tel Aviv
Press
2020 – Alicia Arpaia, i24news broadcast channel, the news, March 2020 (French)
Clement Sauvoy, “Beyond Painting”, Aluring, The Art Scene, March 7, 2020 (French)
2018 – Mette Mechlenborg, DK2 broadcast channel, Denmark (Danish)
2017 – Jenifer Greenberg. “Genius of ‘Genesis’: an interview with Michel Platnic”, Time Out, Israel,A pril 24, 2017, (English)
Alison Roberts. “Genesis”, Telavivian, Israel, May 9, 2017, (English).
America-Israel Cultural Foundation, "Michel Platnic & Dan Allon. Ictus*", Feb 2017, (English).
2016 – Melanie Stern. "Michel Platnic's New Video Project: Genesis", ST-ART, Israel, Fall 2015, (English).
Shireen Marican. "The Pioneer: Michel Platnic, Baconesque and Blurring Boundaries",
Art and Only, Switzerland, February 3, 2016, (English).
2015 – Angela Lannone. "Francis Bacon, i suoi quadri prendono vita con Michel Platnic", Artsblog, Italy, July 2015, (Italian)
Reut Barnea. "After by Michel Platnic at the Museum of Photography", Calcalist, Israel, May 8, 2015, (Hebrew)Cecile Montigny."
Michel Platnic ré-invente Francis Bacon en trois dimensions", Apar, France, March 24, 2015, (French)
Vedomosti/Wall Street Journal, “The Desire to be a Painter”, Russia, March 3, 2015, (Russian)
Profil/Der Spiegel, “After Painting”, Russia, March 6, 2015, (Russian)
Eldad Beck. "I wanted to be an artist. I listened to no one", Ynet, Israel, Feb 2015, (Hebrew)
Artdaily, "Solo exhibition of works by Israeli artist Michel Platnic opens at Art Plural Gallery", Feb 2015, (English)
Adele Dahan. "After the Mixed Media Art of Michel Platnic", TheCultureTrip, Israel, Feb 2015, (English)
Chiara Piccolo. "Tutta la vita dei dipinti di Francis Bacon. I video di Michel Platnic resuscitano le tele del maestro", Artribune, Italy, Jan 2015, (Italian)
Ocula, "Michel Platnic: After", Asia Pacific, Jan 2015, (English)
Nylon Magazine, "Michel Platnic: After", United States, Jan 2015, (English)
Tian Ding. In Lifestyle Asia, Singapore, Jan 2015, (Chinese)
Phaidon, "Meet the artist who reworks Francis Bacon", United Kingdom, Jan 2015, (English)
Randian - China Art Times, “Michel Platnic: After”, Hong Kong, Jan 2015, (English)
Grace Banks. "Interview with Michel Platnic", Elephant Magazine, Jan 15, 2015, (English)
2014 – Dawn Lille. “Michel Platnic: Let Us Move through Space”, Art Times, New York, Fall 2014, (English)
Shani Litman.“What Michel Platnic learned from Francis Bacon”, Haaretz - Galeria, Israel, June 9, 2014, (Hebrew and English)
Valerie Abecassis. i24News - Culture, Israel, May 2014, (English and French News)
Nurit Zaltsman. NZArt, Israel, May 2014, (Hebrew)
Ravit Harari. Nisha, Israel, July 2014, (Hebrew)
2013 – Haaretz - The Guide, Israel, May 13-17, 2013, (Hebrew)
Fleur Sitruk. i24News - Culture, Israel, September 2013, (English and French News)
Ravit Harari. Nisha, Israel, June 2013, (Hebrew)
Anat Mendel. Megafone, Israel, May 26, 2013, (Hebrew)
2012 – Hagit Peleg Rotem. Globes, Israel, January 24-25, 2012, (Hebrew)
2011 – E. Evling & Alon O. In Forbes, Israel, November 2011, (English)
Nadav Appel. Ms. Use Magazine, Israel, June 2011, (Hebrew)
Sagi Benita. "Michel Platnic – Touching the Crown", Art Portal, Israel, May 10, 2011, (Hebrew)
T. Green, Gafni K. & G. In A5 Magazine, Israel, April 13, 2011, (Hebrew and English)
Dorit Pukach. Erev-Rav, ‘Exhibition of the week’, Israel, May 5, 2011, (Hebrew)
2010 – Lili Abodi. "Art of the Body", Ha’ir, Israel, July 30, 2010, (Hebrew)
Cable News Channel - Aroutz 98, Israel, July 25, 2010, (Hebrew)
Dror Solfer. Kol Israel, Israel, May 13, 2010, (Hebrew)
Smadar Shefi. Haaretz, Galeria, Israel, 3 August 2010, (Hebrew)
מישל פלטניק (1970) נולד בצרפת ועבר לישראל בגיל 28. הוא יוצר במדיות רבות, ביניהן צילום, וידאו, פרפורמנס, ציור ומשלב ביניהן. בעבודותיו הוא חוקר את הגדרות וגבולות המדיום, עסוק במבנים הירכיים וכיצד האדם פועל בתוכם, נגדם או בהשפעתם. תהליך עבודתו מורכב מבניית סטים קולנועיים בעלי מערך של חוקים, שותל בתוכם דמויות ובודק כיצד הן פועלות. ההרצאה תעלה שאלות על חופש , כמה חופש יש לנו בתוך מערכות של שליטה כוח וידע.