Shai Kremer lives and works New York, where he attended the School of Visual Arts. His works have been on exhibit in important museums such as the Tate Modern of London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Israel Museum of Jurusalem, the Museo Internazionale della Croce Rossa e della Mezzaluna Rossa of Geneve (exhibition curated by the Musée del’Elysée of Lausanne).

About Concrete Abstract, by Gigliola Fischi, Photo Lux Curator

Images where different points of view gather and amalgamate, where time folds in layers, where memories and repetitions of past and future intertwine. Imbued with time and memories, the works of the series Concrete Abstract, by the Israeli artist Shai Kremer, are the result of a long process of work, born with the documentation of the reconstruction of the World Trade Center’s site, where the Twin Towers collapsed tragically in September 2001.

Each image, in fact, contains over 60 overlapped photos, which were taken by the author over time and combined, day after day, preserving the overall power of details. Thanks to this operation – where the durability and the strength of memory stand against the mere flow of events destined to oblivion – his works look like a restless device, stretched between centrifugal and centripetal impulses, between chaos and order, between fragmentation and structuring of space.

Like nets, like an invisible suspended mazes, his images may remind us of “pictorial dynamism” and the dynamic tension which is typical of the Futurists. With Shai Kremer, however, the vitality and the polyphonic simultaneity, found in the works of the Futurists, turn into an impersonal machine, which is powerful, dramatic and lacking univocal directions at the very same time. The city does not grow towards a bright future anymore (like in the famous work by Umberto Boccioni), but struggles through destruction, accumulation and continuous reconstruction.

After having investigated the debris and the ruins, both ancient and contemporary, which painfully mark the Israeli landscape (like in his previous work Fallen Empires and Infected Landscape), Shai Kremer creates, with Concrete Abstract, images which become gloomy and disturbing metaphors of modernity. Based on shared presence and interferences, on correspondences, on multiple meanings, his works fight against the logic of fundamentalism from inside, since it is based on a sole truth, on a purity lacking any mix-up, on a rigid and indisputable division between right and wrong, true and false. Reality is not univocal – as we are reminded through the works by Shai Kremer – but it is an intertwining of many different truths and points of view.

EDUCATION
2003-2005   M.F.A. Photography and Related Media - School of Visual Arts, New York. USA
1998-2002   B.A. Photography - Camera Obscura School of Arts, Tel Aviv. Israel

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Smoking Gun - Litvak Contemporary ,Tel Aviv Israel
2017
W.T.C Concrete Abstract - Photolux Festival. Lucca, Italy
2016
W.T.C Concrete Abstract - FMoPa. Tampa, USA
2015
Connecting Narratives- Julie M. Gallery, Toronto
2014
W.T.C Concrete Abstract - Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv(October 23 – November 29)
W.T.C Concrete Abstract - Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY (September 4- October22)
2013
Work in Progress - Julie M. Gallery, Toronto
Concrete Abstract & Notes from the Edges - Robert Koch Gallery. San Francisco, CA
2012
Fallen Empires - Forteresse de Salses. Perpignan, France
Infected Landscape  - Le Bleu du Ciel Gallery. Lyon, France
Fallen Empires - Robert Koch Gallery. San Francisco, CA
2011
Fallen Empires - Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY
Fallen Empires - Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
Infected Landscape - Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
Fallen Empires - James Hyman Gallery, London
Fallen Empires - Julie M. Gallery, Toronto
2010
Infected Landscape & Fallen Empires - Galerie Filles du Calvaire. Paris, France
Infected Landscape - FMoPa. Tampa, USA
2009
Infected Landscape - Houston Center for Photography. Houston, USA
Infected Landscape - Julie M Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Infected Landscape Israel - M. K. Ciurlionis National Art Museum,. Kaunas, Lithuania
2008
Infected Landscape Israel - Stiftelsen 3,14 Hordaland International Art Gallery. Bergen, Norway
Infected Landscape - “ART Tel Aviv” , Julie M Gallery. Tel Aviv, Israel
Broken Promised Land - Julie Saul Gallery. New York, USA
Broken Promised Land - Robert Koch Gallery. San Francisco, USA
Infected Landscape Israel - Julie M Gallery. Tel Aviv, Israel
2005
Infected Landscape - SVA Eastside Gallery. New York, USA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Flood - Contemporary Israeli Photography - Ashdod Art Museum Israel
Summer Selection - Vision Neil Folberg Gallery, Jerusalem Israel
Between Culture and Architecture - Litvak Contemporary Tel Aviv Israel
2017
Shifting Perspectives - Brooklyn Historical Society Museum, Brooklyn NY, U.S.A
2015
Words Matter - Robert Koch Gallery. San Francisco, USA
Unfamiliar Asia - Beijing Photo Biennial, Beijing China
Visions of Place: Complex Geographies in Contemporary Israeli Art - Stedman Art Gallery, Camden NJ, U.S.A
Deconstructing Permanent Concerns - Julie M Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Signs of a place: Israeli contemporary photographs from the Museum collection- Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
2014
In Conversation 2  - Curator Suzanne Landau, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
New Cycles - Julie M Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Summer Landscapes - Julie M Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Shai Kremer’s Concrete Abstract - Museum of the City of New York
Shai Kremer’s Concrete Abstract - Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM, Diker Gallery)
Shai Kremer’s Concrete Abstract - The Bronx Museum of the Art
Deganit Berest and Shai Kermer - Julie M. Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Histoire, Regards d'artistes - Centro de Historias, Zaragoza, Spain - PhotoEspaña
Contemporary Israeli art - Julie M. Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Annual Best- Julie M. Gallery. Toronto, Canada
2013
Group show - Julie M. Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Histoire, Regards d'artistes - Hôtel des Arts de Toulon, France
Histoire, Regards d'artistes – MARCO Museum for contemporary art, Vigo, Spain
Great Wide Open - Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Israel
Israel Now-Reiventing the future - MACRO Museum, Roma, Italy
Collecting Dust- Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
2012
Behind Landscape - H2 Center for Contemporary Art. Augsburg, Germany
Landscape & Color, Julie M. Gallery. Toronto, Canada
Israeli Homage to the Italian Renaissance - Open University Gallery. Raanana, Israel
2011
Being American, Visual Arts Gallery, New York - including works by A. Jaar, E. Burtynsky, M. Rosler
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN - including works by Henri Cartier Bresson, Philip Lorca di Corcia, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, Dorothea Lange, Paul Strand, Gary Winogrand.
On the Road to Nowhere, Ashdod Art Museum, Israel
Human Landscape, The Artist Workshop, Tel Aviv, Israel
2010
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera, SF MoMA, San Francisco, CA
Natural Conflict: Video and Photography from Israel, Nevada Museum of Art, NV
BMW Prize Paris Photo 2010, Carousel du Louvre, Paris, France
Looking In, Looking Out: The Window in Art, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera, Tate Modern, London, UK
2009
Picturing Modernity: The Photography Collection, San Francisco MoMA, San Francisco, CA
Walls, Pont de la Machine, Geneva, Switzerland - including work by L. Towell, G. Peress and Henri Cartier Bresson
Structures, Dwellings and Buildings, Ashdod Art Museum, Israel
Point of View, Manshia, Tel Aviv, Israel - including work by B. Friedlander, A. Nes and G. Ophir
Stigmata, Red Cross Red Crescent Museum, Geneva, Switzerland - curated by the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne
Windows and Mirrors, Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY - including work by Diane Arbus, Todd Hido, Vik Muniz, Hiroshi Sugimoto
Dystopia, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Constellation, Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Rome, Italy - including work by Barry Friedlander, Simcha Shirman, Tsibi Geva, Menashe Kadishman
2008
As Is, Vittoriano Art Museum, Rome, Italy - including work by Yael Bartana, Barry Friedlander, Sigalit Landau, Adi Nes.
Reality Check, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY - including work by Thomas Demand, Gregory Crewdson, Philip Lorca diCorcia, Vik Muniz, Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld, Thomas Struth, Hiroshi Sugimoto
Panoramic Landscapes, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
HeartQuake, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel - including work by Alfredo Jaar and Anselm Kiefer
2007
Loaded Landscape, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL - including work by Joel Sternfeld, Atta Kim and Simon Norfolk
Guangzhou Photo Biennale, Canton, China
Engagement, Contemporary Photography, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2006
Infected Landscape, Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY
Disengagement, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
Emerging photographers 2005, Omotesando Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2005
Emerging photographers 2005, Art & Commerce, New York, NY
Focused, Photographic Centre Northwest, Seattle, WA
See what I mean, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY

AWARDS
2010   BMW Paris Photo Prize - 20 short-listed artists, exhibited at the Carousel du Louvre
2009   Henri Cartier Bresson Award  - Runner up, prize awarded to David Goldblatt
2009   Lucie International Photography Awards - Honorable Mention
2008   Rencontres Photographiques D’Arles, PhotoFolio Review Prize
2008   NYFA (New York Foundation of the Arts) Artist’s Fellowship in Photography
2007   Aperture Portfolio Prize 2007, Runner-up
2007   Santa Fe Center for Photography, 2007 Prize nominee
2007   HSBC Fondation pour la Photographie, amongst the 2007 Prize fifteen nominates
2007   Israel Pais Grant for the Art and Culture, Tel Aviv, Israel
2004   America - Israel Cultural Foundation, MFA Studies Grant
2002   America - Israel Cultural Foundation, BA Accomplishment Grant

MUSEUMS COLLECTIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, NY
SF MoMA - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, CA
Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, TX
Museum of Contemporary Photography. Chicago, IL
Pilara Foundation Pier 24, San Francisco, CA
Israel Museum. Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Tel Aviv, Israel
Shpilman Institute for Photography
Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. Herzliya, Israel
Museum on the Seam. Jerusalem, Israel
FMoPa. Tampa, USA
Chapman Museum. New York, NY
Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Brunswick, ME
Rose Museum at Brandeis University. Waltham, MA
Harvard University. Cambridge, MA
Musée de la roche-sur-Yon, France
Nevada Museum of Art, NV

ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
2019
Pulse Miami (solo)- Art Bond NY
Market Art + Design Bridgehampton (solo)- Julie M Gallery Toronto
2018
Pulse Miami (solo)- Julie M Gallery Toronto
Volta NY - Litvak Contemporary ,Tel Aviv Israel
NFL/Art Palm Beach (solo)- Julie M Gallery Toronto
2017
Art Basel Miami - Artpremium
AIPAD New York - Robert Koch Gallery
2014
Paris Photo - Robert Koch Gallery
Art Chicago - Robert Koch GalleryArt Toronto - Julie M Gallery
AIPAD New York - Robert Koch Gallery
2013
AIPAD New York - Julie Saul Gallery & Robert Koch Gallery
Paris Photo LA - Robert Koch Gallery
Art Chicago - Robert Koch Gallery
Tseva Tari - Julie M Gallery Tel Aviv
Paris Photo - Robert Koch Gallery
2012
Paris Photo - Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco
Art Miami, Pulse - Julie Saul Gallery, New York
Art Toronto - Julie M Gallery, Toronto
2011
Paris Photo - Galeries Filles du Calvaire - Paris, France
Art Miami, Pulse - Booth TBC - Miami, FL
Tseva Tari - Tel Aviv, Israel
2010
Paris Photo - Paris, France
Art Miami, Pulse - Miami, FL
AIPAD Photography Show New York - New York, NY
2009
Paris Photo - Filles du Calvaire and Robert Koch. Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
Art Miami, Art Basel Miami Beach - Robert Koch Gallery Booth. Miami, USA
The Armory Show - Robert Koch Gallery Booth, New York
AIPAD Photography Show New York - Robert Koch Gallery Booth, New York
Art Chicago - Robert Koch Gallery Booth, New York
Nuit Blanche – Montreal, Canada
2008
Pulse, Art Basel Miami 2008 - Julie Saul Gallery. Miami, USA
Impulse, Art Basel Miami 2008 - Julie M Gallery. Miami, USA
Art Chicago - Robert Koch Gallery
AIPAD Photography Show New York - Robert Koch Gallery
Pulse - Julie Saul Gallery. New York, USA
Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles - Photo Folio Review selected artists, exhibited at Arles, France
2007
Festival of the Photograph - Charlottesville, USA
2006
Emerging photographers 2005 - Foto Espana. Madrid, Spain

MONOGRAPHS
FALLEN EMPIRES, Shai Kremer
March 2011 - A co-publication Dewi Lewis Publishing, Manchester UK and Radius Books, Santa Fe USA - Hardcover, 50 plates.
INFECTED LANDSCAPE, Shai Kremer
September 2008 - Dewi Lewis Publishing, Manchester UK - Hardcover, 66 plates.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Essays:
Palimpsests chapter, Stones are Mute, by Anne Wilkes Tucker for FALLEN EMPIRES monograph.
Whispering Stones byMeron Benvenishti, for FALLEN EMPIRES monograph.
Contemporary Ruins, Outposts and Settlements chapter, That which is Now Erected shall be Demolished for Israel’s Sake by Talya Sasson for FALLEN EMPIRES monograph.
Contemporary Ruins, Military Bases chapter, The scope of Security Areas in the State of Israel by Dr. Amiram Oren for FALLEN EMPIRES monograph.
Erasing Otherness chapter, An Unceasing Ongoing Destruction by Dr. Ariella Azoulay for FALLEN EMPIRES monograph
On Landscape & Human Beings by Dr. Moshe Zuckermann for INFECTED LANDSCAPE monograph
A measure of Nature by Sylvia Wolf for INFECTED LANDSCAPE monograph
Afterwards Curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer, Thames and Hudson, 2011
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera. Exhibition cat. London, UK: Tate Modern, 2010
Shortlisted finalists of Prix Pictet published in Earth. Germany: teNeues, 2009.
As Is. Exhibition catalog. Rome, Italy: Vittoriano Art Museum, 2008
HeartQuake. Israel: Museum on the Seam, 2008
Artis. Catalog. New York: Israeli Contemporary Art Week in New York, 2008
Guangzhou Photo Biennale. Catalog. Canton, China, 2007
New York Jewish Museum. Catalog. New York, 2007
Artwalk New York. Auction catalog. New York, 2006
Peek 2006. New York: Art & Commerce Publications, 2006
Articles and Reviews:
Vince Aletti, The New Yorker, October 6th, 2011
William Meyers, The Wall Street Journal, September 2011
Luc Briand, Liberation, (France), August 13, 2010
Claire Guillot, Le Monde (France), April 11, 2010
Telerama, (France), April 7, 2010
“Coups de Coeurs Paris Photo,” Beaux Arts Magazine (France), November 2009.
Courier International (France), March 2009
“Special Issue on Paris Photo,” Images Magazine (France), November 2008
“The City,” Bonnie Yochelson, The New York Times (New York, NY) December 7, 2008
“Infected Landscape,” Dr. Jochai Rosen, Afterimage Magazine (New York, NY), 2008
Vince Aletti, The New Yorker (New York, NY), May 12, 2008
Smadar Sheffi, Haaretz (Israel), February 21, 2008
Cover article, Bruno Chalifour, Afterimage Magazine, (New York, NY), 2007
“My Views of Israel,” Bernard Henri Levy, The New York Time Magazine (New York, NY), 2