Shir Handelsman is a multidisciplinary artist, born in 1989. He lives and works in Tel Aviv and graduated his BFA studies at the Department of Multidisciplinary Art of Shenkar College in 2018. He specialized in video, sound, drawing, sculpture, and installation. Recipient of The Pais Council for Culture and Art Grant (2021), the Grand Prix of 27th Slavonian Biennial, Museum of Fine Arts Osijek (2020), Best Experimental Film Award at the Budapest Independent Film Festival (2020) and an Excellence Grant from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (2018).

Handelsman began his professional career as a musician, a saxophone player, and performer. He participated in various ensembles and jazz orchestras and composed music for theater productions. In 2013, Handelsman began his BA studies in literature and philosophy at Tel Aviv University, which he graduated with honors.

In his works, Handelsman explores the relations between sound and visual images by using human, surreal and absurd encounters. He creates damaged sound machines, visual disturbances, and manipulations on images, in order to expose the disruptions which exist in intimate human relations. His works have been exhibited in Kunsthal Charlottenborg gallery (Denmark), Aesthetica Short Film Festival (UK), Jerusalem Film Festival (Israel), Video Art & Experimental Film Festival (New York, USA), Jerusalem Artists House and more.

CV

1989 Born in Israel, lives and works in Tel Aviv

 

Education

2014 – 2018 BFA, The Department of Multidisciplinary Arts, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Ramat Gan, Israel

2017 École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Student Exchange Program, Paris, France

2010 – 2013 B.A in Literature and Philosophy (Graduated with honors), Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

 

Solo Exhibitions

2022 No More Candy For You, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel

2021 Stress Fractures, Art-Claims-Impulse Gallery, Berlin, Germany

                            Born, Never Asked, Jerusalem Artists House, Israel

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Untitled, Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel

                            The Most Brilliant Moments For You, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, South Korea

                            Following the music, Museum Center Ploshchad Mira, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

                            Salón Acme, Art fair for emerging artists, Mexico City, Mexico

2021 I don’t want to be horny anymore, I want to be happy, Out_Sight, Seoul, South Korea

                            Disform, Fein Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

                            Streetlight, Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago, USA

2020 World, good night, Duo exhibition with Marc Aschenbrenner, Art-Claims-Impulse Gallery, Berlin, Germany

                            The Crown Cinema, Hansen House, Jerusalem, Israel

                            La Totale, Studio Orta - Les Moulins, France

                            Power Play 2020: Invisible lines, The Arts House at The Old Parliament, Singapore

                            27th Slavonian Biennial, Museum of Fine Arts Osijek, Croatia

                            International Video Art Festival Now&After, Contemporary Art Center Winzavod, Moscow, Russia

                            The Biennial of Arts and Design, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel

                            ATLAS of Particles - Are you predictable?, Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzorić, Belgrade, Serbia

                            14th Arte Laguna Prize, Arsenale of Venice, Italy

                              Art Nova 100, Guardian Art Center, Beijing, China

2019                      International Photography Festival, PHOTO IS:RAEL, Tel Aviv, Israel

                            Zumu: Museum on the move, Kiryat Yam, Israel

                            OPEN SSA+VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland

                            The London Group Open 2019, Cello Factory Gallery, London, UK

                            Interchange, Alfred Cooperative Institute for Art, Tel Aviv, Israel                      

                            Surface, Sklar Levy Gallery, Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Israel

                            Extravagant Bodies: Love, Hala V, The Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Zagreb, Croatia

                            Thessaloniki Queer Arts Festival, Momus Experimental Center for the Arts, Thessaloniki, Greece

                            Zoom 2019–Young Israeli Artists, The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv, Israel

                     Charlottenborg Forårsudstilling 2019, Kunsthal Charlottenborg Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2018                  Beyond Words, ArtspaceTLV, Tel Aviv, Israel  

Morendo, Graduate exhibition, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Ramat Gan, Israel

 

Selected Screenings

2022                       Art Madrid 2022, Madrid, Spain

2021                       XXIVth International Encounters Traverse, Les Abattoirs Museum of Contemporary Art, Toulouse, France

Videoformes Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France

2020                       Lago Film Fest, Italy                      

Grenoble's 43th Open-Air Short Film Festival, Grenoble, France

                             Frame & Frequency VI, VisArts Concourse Gallery, Rockville, Maryland, USA

Amarcort Film Festival, Rimini, Italy

Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Ukraine

Hot Steam Video Art Festival, Massachusetts, USA

Under the Subway Video Art Night, New York, USA

Festival International du Film de Nancy, France   

Proyector Festival, Madrid, Spain

Desenzano Film Festival, Italy

Split Videoart Festival, Croatia        

Video Art Miden Festival, Greece

Epos International Art Film Festival, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel

Budapest Independent Film Festival, Budapest, Hungary

2019                       Simultan Festival, Corneliu Miklosi Museum, Romania                      

Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey

Video Art & Experimental Film Festival, Tribeca Film Center, New York, USA

Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York, UK

Horn Experimental Film Festival, Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem Film Festival - Video Art and Experimental Cinema Competition, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Israel

Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival 2019, Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Israel

 

Awards and Grants

2021                       Independent Artists Foundation, Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, Exhibition Grant, Israel                  

The Pais Council for Culture and Art – Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art’s Greenhouse, Israel

2020                       Grand Prix - 27th Slavonian Biennial, Museum of Fine Arts, Osijek, Croatia                             

Best Experimental Film Award Winner, Budapest Independent Film Festival, Hungary

Second Prize Award, International Video Art Festival Now&After, Moscow, Russia

Cinema After Film Award Winner, Cinema South International Film Festival, Israel

2019                       Artist in Residency, Leveld Kunstnartun, Norway

Second Prize Award, Horn Festival - The Experimental Film Competition, Jerusalem, Israel

2018                       Excellence Grant Recipient from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation

2017                       Pessa and Rebecca Blumenkopf Foundation Scholarship