Purim special - Woman custome!

It's kind of strange that although one of my favorite activities in daily life is wearing customs and personas, Purim, the Jewish custom holiday, makes me feel helpless and confused. In fact, I almost never manage to find a new custom for this day and year after year, I find myself wearing the most exotic and challenging disguise of all: that is, the disguise of A Woman.

If you happen to be "a natural woman" as in the song of Aretha Franklin, this may sound kind of ridiculous to you, but as for me, I don't even believe you exist. "A woman is not born: she is made", said Simone de Beauvoir and as you can see in the following images, without the right gestures and accessories, you will be in the danger of passing as an unidentified creature and even worse: as your Self!

So my advice to you, dear sisters, for Purim (and for life), is: whether you choose to be a clown, a policewoman, a super-heroine or an Oreo Cookie: Show some skin! Keep it sexy! Don't make them forget what you are!

Happy Purim, you naughty girls you... 

Nobody's Coming 5, C-print, 80*60 cm, 2013

Nobody's Coming 5-aC-print, 80*60 cm, 2013

Forensics

These images were created a few months before I became the photographer of Israel's National Institute of Forensic Medicine. Unlike most types of photography, from journalistic to fashion to Instagram, forensic photography's sole aim is to document and reveal the truth, regardless of aesthetic, personal or political considerations. In forensics, there is no place for self expression nor for artistic creativity. The forensic photographer working in the morgue is like an extension of the doctor, and has to folllow her or his instructions with precision and atention, using the camera as a scientific, rather than an artistic tool.

I feel very lucky to be a forensic photographer. This kind of work has provided me with the oportunity to learn anatomy, medicine, criminology, anthropology, pathology, osteology... and has given me the rare chance to face directly, on a daily basis, the deepest fears of human kind. Somehow, the intensive contact with death has increased even more my love for life.

But of course, aestheticly, speaking, staged death can be marvelous. And it doesn't smell.

  

Rita and Jonathan, 2013

Jonathan and Rita, 2013

The Birth of Adam

It's been a while since I created a brand new image just for the sake of it. In the last few months, video, performance and writing almost made me forget how wonderful it is to just visualise something in your imagination and make it come true without preconceptions, references and theories, and especially: without having to write brilliant proposals!!

Anyway, I am extremely happy with this image, shot last Saturday with the help of my 

beloved partner Revital after a night drinking and playing with our friend's Oz and Mariana's bizarre toys (these finger tentacles, for example). The name of the piece, "The Birth of Adam" was invented yesterday, drinking some wine in the company of another good friend (Adam :)).

Well, this is it for today. Time to go back to do some "serious" work.

Wish you a week of fulfilled temptations!!

Rinat 

Elephant

After adding plenty of light to this night image, I saw it. It was walking down the road in the suburbs of Mexico City. It was long ago, so I guess it already reached the Center. Unless he got lost, or drowned.

Poor elephant, what were you doing there anyway?

This year: feel sexy!

This year I wish for myself and for others to hold on to whatever is real and substantious. I wish joy and curiosity take over vanity and boredom and especially I wish for everybody to feel sexy as hell. It's challenging enough, and will for sure make the world a better place...

Rinat 

*design: Rachella Glezer

Makeup: Dafna Bar El

Model: Niv Friedman

"The feast", 2013

Meet Selena

This sad little princess was given to me in Mexico City by my childhood friend Daniela, who got it in her turn as a present for her newborn daughter. It's quite alarming and extremely ridiculous that even today, in the 21th century, people still think it's a good idea to give a baby girl a doll that is unhugabble and includes manicure, realistic breasts with nipples, high heels, earrings, makeup and a dress that no human being could feel confortable in. I mean, was the baby supposed to play "mommy" with this femmuncula?! or was this inanimate and grotesque reproduction of a "woman" supposed to be her role model!? Anyhow, Daniela decided to get rid of the freak A.S.A.P and as soon as I got to Mexico, she gave it to me. Of course. 3 weeks afterwords, Selena made her way with me to her new home, Tel Aviv. Now she is my role model. And daughter.

The dream

I was thinking to myself - what should I post before leaving on vacations for a few weeks, and in the end came up with this image. It is part of a beautiful series called "The Dream", commissioned last year by a client who allowed me (almost) total artistic freedom. This image is only a glimpse...

Wish you all a dreamy spring and lovely holidays!!

Rinat

*Chair design: Rachella Glezer

Jellyfish

OK. This post is an attempt to be back. In new shapes, for one of the reasons I quit my beloved blog 6 months ago was my self-imposed intent to be coherent. They say an artist is like a trademark and therefore has to be recognizable in content and style. Fuck that. Coherence is ridiculous. And the aspiration for it is a prison cell. We are all so full of contradictions. Specially me.

Anyway, this image was taken today in the office (I have a new job). It is part of a series, though I haven't decided yet what to call it. Jellyfish sounds fine for now. I hope you like it.  

Night Walk

These self photographs were taken late at night, at a park in the suburbs, last January (yes, I was freezing). After reviewing them, I decided to enhance the performance and film it. The result, called NIGHT WALK, will be screened this Thursday in CCA, Tel Aviv, and you are all invited to see it, together with other works by other wonderful artists. 

To the event on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/events/228222073992614/?ref=25

Have a bright shiny day...

Rinat

Sub-Urbs

I know this scenery looks like a computerized setting, or like a low budget imitation of the set of Truman Show, but no. This image was taken 40 minutes from Tel Aviv, somewhere in the Israeli suburbs (did anyone notice, by the way, that the term "suburb" is a derogatory one, made of two words actually?). Anyhow, I am sure some of you already noticed this piece is a parody (and a parody is also a kind of a homage), to one of Helmut Newton's most famous images, and one of my favorite ones. I call the result "anti-glamour". My suburbian-lunatic-wanna-be-diva looks so stupid in it, and the truth is I love her for that! I hope you do too...

IKEA

This frame belongs to an installation called IKEA, you can see some images of it below. I need to go now, but I hope it you like it. I'm back home in Tel Aviv, by the way. (home-IKEA... maybe that's why I chose to publish it today).

XOXO

R.

Self Portrait as Dirty Jessie

So much has been said lately about my ironic pursuit of childhood and playfulness through photography, and I can only agree with that, of course. 

This self portrait, taken after Sally Mann's photograph of her daughter in a futile intent to become someone's baby again (futile because I'm a woman, not a baby; futile because I am the creator of the image, before being the model or the object), is a perfect example, I think, of this game I'm playing without any chance to win.

Anyhow, today I'm travelling to visit my parents in Mexico and try to be their baby again, so this post is also a goodbye for a few weeks.

Have fun, be naughty, bye bye...

Self Portrait as Dirty Jessie, Rinat Schadower, 2013

Dirty Jessie, by Sally Mann, 1985

Living room landscape

It's been such a long while since I had time to play with Lego, to fool around with my camera without a fixed artistic purpose, to create something other than buzz around PLAY . Finally, the day before yesterday a miracle happened and I found some time to refresh myself.

This is one of the results - a living room landscape with a Lego piece I built over a month ago (poor baby, a whole month waiting to be photographed and destroyed). I hope you like it.

And talking about buzz, this is PLAY'S last weekend. If you haven't seen it, please do come!! 

P8 Gallery

Yehuda Halevi 79, Tel Aviv.  

Wed.-Thu. 11-19, Fri.-Sat. 11-15.

Untitled

Accidentally, a few days ago I erased the post with this image, featuring now in a sales exhibition organized by Site Specific, in Cheetah Gallery (Hahashmal 33 Tel Aviv). It's strange, cause you can always upload an image again, but in a blog, you can never go back to the date the post what written, nor to it's exact content.

Anyway, you are all invited to go and see the real thing, in the real world... you are also more than welcome to buy it :)

Have a great weekend

Rinat  

PLAY

Now that that my exhibition PLAY has been launched, I can finally share in my lab a piece from one of the series taking part in the show. This is Play Ground 1, and it is part of a triptych (a series of 3 pieces). If you want to see the rest, just come visit: Yehuda Halevi 79, Wed. and Thu. 11:00-19:00, Fri.-Sat. 11:00 -15:00.

Also, I want to thank from all my heart to all the kind people who took part in PLAY by supporting me through Indiegogo. And for those of you who still haven't contributed but want to do so, this is your last chance: 24 hours to go and the campaign is over:

Go inside the link: 

http://igg.me/at/Rinat/x/2494259

Be part of PLAY!!!!

Thanks a lot

Rinat

Guns are for suckers!

In the beginning, I didn't think I'd use this image, taken in my kitchen a few weeks ago, but then came a campaign against domestic violence, where citizens urge the Israeli government to forbid security guards to take their weapons home (a permission resulting in many women injured and killed by their partners).

So... now that it has meaningful purpose, I am becoming more fond of this image of mine and have decided to publish it in my Lab.

I really hope you enjoy it, and please don't forget to get in my campaign  and CONTRIBUTE to my solo show, PLAY, comming up in April 18, as much as you can!

Rinat

Net

This is an image I really wanted to exhibit in my first solo show (April 18 - May 18, P8 Gallery, Tel Aviv). In the end, the curator and me decided you can not show everything the first time. I believe he's right, and still: having a blog permits you to do whatever you feel like, instantly :)

I also want to invite you people to be part of the show and participate in the crowd-funding campaign I'm running through Indiegogo

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/play--2/x/2494259?c=home

Love ya all and thanks for following!

Rinat

Blurry

This is how I see while photographing myself. When off the set, I wear glasses that help me see the world clearly, but somehow, I have never gotten myself a pair of contact lenses to help me while I work. This is why, although I am usually a a meticulous photographer and a sharp one too, every time a self portrait comes out focused, I feel as if a miracle occurred.

Anyway, this image proves that focus isn't always the point. Sometimes, it's just the opposite.

Oh, and welcome to my new Facebook Page. Please LIKE it if you like it :)

Am I Cindy Sherman?

I think the answer is no. First, because I usually don't hide my Self, but try (and sometimes fail) to expose it as much as I can. Second, because the beautiful and convincing actress in the picture is not me, but my partner - Revital - with one of my wigs. And third, because if I was Cindy Sherman, I would probably be much wealthier then I am right now. And more famous.

Anyway, I think this is my post for Purim. Merry Purim :)

Nobody's mother

 It is often that I ask myself: why are women expected to be mothers all the time? To be comprehensive and supportive and giving and altruistic (because it is for self sacrificing that women, even little girls, are best rewarded in male dominated society - how clever of them, of course!) . 

I was never rewarded for any of these. I don't want to be nobody's mother. I want to be recognized for my art skills, for my wit and for my strength in the field of life. I want to be forgiven for my selfishness, to be taken care of, to be fed by others.

Last week I came across some of Gal Volinez's breast feeding work. The context of the works is totally different, but I thought to myself: maybe it's time to share these images, that I guess are sketches for a piece still to come.

Sometimes, I'm not alone

Something calm, against the storm...

Memories from another life of mine

Is Angie disturbing?

This image on mine was published last week by P8 Gallery's page, together with an interview with me around my work. It belongs to the series "Angie". Apparently, someone complained about it's contents and it was banned, together with the funny things I had to say about art and life in general. I don't know if it's a pity or not, but I find it really sad that a nude female body (MY body!) is seen as disturbing or violent where hatred and vain ideas are being spread all the time without ever being censored. Just turn on the TV for a moment or listen to a conversation on the bus and you'll know what I mean.

But well, here she is again, nude and blond and bathing in an empty broken tub.

  

Flamingo (and now, with Tal's Poem)

 My friend, the poet Tal Nitzan, just published a new book. The name of the book is "Look at the Same Cloud Twice", and on it's back there is a beautiful poem about a flamingo - about the flamingo as the guardian of the Poet's solitude. Somehow, it reminded me of these images I took some time ago, although my flamingo is made of plastic and lives in the bathtub, not in a lake :).

The poem, by Tal Nitzan:

אִם

אִם תִּנָּתֵן לִי חַיַּת בְּדִידוּת

יִהְיֶה זֶה פְלָמִינְגוֹ.

כִּתְמוֹ הַוָּרֹד יֵרָאֶה לְמֵרָחוֹק,

רַגְלָיו הַמְהַסְּסוֹת-לִכְאוֹרָה

יְטוֹפְפוּ עִגּוּל סְבִיבִי

וְצַוָּארוֹ הַדַּק יִמְצָא תָּמִיד

אֶת הַמִּרְוָח הַמִּזְעָרִי

בֵּינִי לְכָל אֶחָד

וְיִכָּרֵךְ בִּמְסִירוּת עַל צַוָּארִי.

מתוך "להביט באותו ענן פעמיים" (קשב לשירה, 2012)

If

If I were given a solitude animal

it would have been a flamingo.

Its pink stain would be seen from afar,

its seemingly hesitant legs

would trace a circle around me

and its thin neck would always find

the tiny gap

between me and anyone

and loyally clench my neck.

"Look at the same cloud twice" (2012)

 

Bread and Roses

Sometimes I do different things, and it's always very difficult to choose what to publish (and what not to publish) in my lab. 

For example, since I began working on my solo exhibition (March 14-April 5, P8 Gallery, Jaffa), I haven't published any work concerning that project, so you all have a good reason to come, see some new pieces and have a surprising experience, I hope :). 

Nevertheless, here is a piece from another series of mine, this time documentary and quite different from my usual work, I think. The series is called Orot ("Lights"), and it includes 8 long exposure images taken in Tel Aviv beach during last summer, at night. 

This one in particular is going to be exhibited in "Bread and Roses" art sale (December 22, Minshar Gallery, Tel Aviv) organized by Maan, a worker's organization that promotes employment for Arab women in Israeli society. As every year, the profits from the art sale will go to Maan's project "Women and Work".

The Smile

Unpublished till now, this work was chosen to take part in "The Collective and The Collection" project, launched by Cuban artist Conrado R. Maletá and Israeli artist Naamá Sarid Maletá. You are more than welcome to go inside the link and take a look of some other awesome photographers from all over the world, participating in this revolutionary initiative:

http://tctcartproject.tumblr.com/

The next international exhibition of the TC&TC project is about to take place in November, in Rosario, Argentina.

Creature

This is one of the last creatures built by us (this guy is my partner's creation) in our former flat. Now, the little Lego pieces are all packed in a tight jar, inside a dark box, waiting for us to unpack our stuff and give them life again. It will take time, though, for unpacking a home is a task that reminds us we are already adult women, and adult women do not play with Lego. Playing with Lego, they say, is a privilege for children and men...

O

Someone told me once I should have done some manicure before taking this picture. I answered him he should have gone through brain surgery before giving his opinions. My hands are short, crooked and childish. I love them. And I have a spider in my mouth!  

Boxing

Did I ever shared with you the fact I love boxing?

Have a great day! :)

Do's and Dont's

Make a living, pay taxes, pay for your groceries at the supermarket, dress properly, dress, buy stuff, buy a house, wash the dishes, don't eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch, be considered to your neighbors, read the newspapers, hold your farts, DON'T SCREAM AT PEOPLE ON THE STREET, don't cry in public, invite guests for a nice dinner, become a mother, become a woman.

A few days ago I turned 34 and honestly, I don't feel like any of this.