SERIES
OUR LEGACY
The works in this exhibition present a deep and personal tapestry of my family's history. The show traces the origins of a union that transcended tribal boundaries, a testament to love's power to bridge divides. The seed was planted in my mind by the memory of my great aunt’s Moroccan wedding dress (El-Keswa El-Kbira) – an heirloom that represents the beauty and rich culture of the Sephardic diaspora. As I examined my family lineage, I discovered an ever-changing world – one marked by escalating intra-Jewish tensions that necessitated the concealment of our roots, particularly the precious North African heritage.
This body of work comes from profound self-discovery. The mosaics are painstakingly assembled from cherished recycled fabrics and scraps of leather, generously bestowed upon me by my community. The strength and resilience of these materials is informed by the struggle my people have endured for millennia. Following a transformative family pilgrimage to Morocco, I returned home laden not only with physical souvenirs, but also with treasured ancestral narratives. With these, I am reconstructing my family’s history and identity.
Amidst the current backdrop of war in Israel, this presentation, takes on heightened relevance. It compels us to be introspective to our individual histories and heritage, and ultimately, to confront the question – how do we define our shared humanity? In this pivotal moment, we are entrusted with shaping future generations. How will history judge our behavior, our actions Our Legacy.
HER LEGACY
Inspired by a family photo of a Moroccan wedding dress (El-Keswa El-Kbira) this piece is a work years in the making. Engraved in my mind I knew that one day I would incorporate this personal iconic image in my art. My goal was to express the multitude of feelings and memories the dress evokes for me as well a sense of respect and dignity for my heritage. This image represents Moroccan beauty and a culture rich in customs and history. Legacy captures a sense of growing-up in Israel at a time when intra-Jewish racism was escalating and my family’s roots needed to be suppressed, and nearly erased for the price of assimilation. After years of living in NYC do I fully understand the importance of celebrating one’s authentic heritage, Legacy helped me explore this important question.
ODYSSEY
Navigating through fantasy and reality are essential to Ronen Azulay’s work, His life journey from Israel to New York as an artist, sexual being and immigrant have been a roadmap to his creativity. These interwoven narratives are pieced together in his work through layers of paint and repurposed textiles. As you examine each area, you can feel these different realities playing off of each other on his patchwork canvases.
Every piece of fabric is reborn and salvaged carrying its own story before being joined with other materials. Reclaimed materials highlight a key theme in his work, movement and migration. His art mirrors a thrilling journey into an unfamiliar place with all of its complexities, trying to assimilate to a new identity or reality (while stay true to his background and roots)
AGAINST THE GRAIN
In this series, Ronen Azulay continues to transform scraps of denim into geometric shapes, sews them together to emphasize stitches and selvedge edges — a roadmap to a reconstructed canvas. Later he manipulates the reengineered canvas with several different techniques, adding and extracting layers of color. The result is this unique composition rich in texture, shape and color.
MIGRATION
Humanity has always been on the move. Throughout history, we have migrated in search of new opportunities, as well as to escape persecution, conflict and poverty. Early humans were nomadic, traveling in search of food, shelter, and safety. Today, people move for many different reasons, including economic, political, cultural, religious, and environmental factors.
Using recycled materials in his art, particularly denim, Ronen Azulay engages in a conversation around movement. While pushing boundaries as an artist he simultaneously refers to his background and personal story while no longer relying solely on conventional tools. In this body of work he adapts everyday materials, stretches and reshapes them. This allows him to explore proportion, composition and space. From this point instead of painting and adding layers of color Azulay reverses the process and extracts layers of color. By doing so a migration of color starts to form, from its original ground to endless rich shades and tones of itself. This process enables him to modify the surface and then add layers of color. This cycle conveys a philosophical and symbolic narrative about color, identity, shape, transformation and adaptation.
