27/04/2023 - 29/07/2023

Zilberman | Berlin is delighted to announce Itamar Gov's first solo exhibition Chemistry and Physics in the Household.

Bringing together historical moments and fabricated futures, the exhibition forms a trajectory that moves between different realms, temperatures, and textures, questioning the scientific and technological responsibilities of a society that cherishes progress, innovation, and efficiency.

Four new installations follow the alchemical pursuit of an ultimate remedy and the accidental creation of Prussian Blue in 1705, the suicide of chemist Clara Immerwahr as a protest against her husband's invention of chemical weapons in 1915, the Nazi desires for and depictions of a perfect human body, cloning, automatons, and robotic utopias. Together, the works create an immersive factory of human bodies, a domestic laboratory of mechanical entities and living tissues.

The title of the exhibition refers to a series of lectures with the same title, given by Clara Immerwahr in 1901. Chemistry and Physics in the Household is accompanied by a catalogue with contributions by Zasha Colah and Lotte Laub, among others.

Itamar Gov's works address the intricate relations between history, ideology and aesthetics by exploring various forms of personal, collective and institutional memory. Approaching forgotten micro-histories as a means to shed light on vast socio-political landscapes, the starting point of his sculptural and spatial installations is an inquiring scepticism towards cultural traditions, conventions and gestures that are considered self-evident. His works are based on ongoing research and revolve around the intersection of art and politics, highlighting the strong tension between the known and the supposed, and challenging any assumption of clear borders between facts and falsehoods, reality and imagination. Never providing a full and complete picture, he invites viewers to engage with the elements of the works and to become part of an inquisitive process. Gov was a member of the curatorial teams of documenta 14 (Kassel and Athens), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin) and Fondazione Adolfo Pini (Milan), and awarded residency grants at the Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris) and the Nordic Artists' Centre (Dale), among others.

Sunday, 16 July:
17h Artist Talk w/ Itamar Gov & Övül Durmuşoğlu

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