When Souls Stick
Work by Jess Bass and Gabriel Chalfin-Piney
September 1 - October 1, 2023
On View Sundays
11 A - 2 P
Opening Reception
Friday, September 1st
6 - 9 P
with Performance by Zachary Nicol, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza Carrasco and Hannah Mira Friedland. Costumes by Liz Mortensen of Laila Textiles.
When Souls Stick
An incantation bowl depicting the demon Lilith
Identified by Naama Vilozny
3rd to 7th century
Palestine and Babylonia
Earthenware Vessel
This bowl’s text seals Lilith and later threatens that any attempts to escape will be met by “60 men who will capture you with copper ropes on your feet and copper shackles on your hands and cast collars of copper upon your temples”
Translation of bowls was undertaken by Professor Shaul Shaked from Judea-Aramaic, Madean, Syria and Persian
דאָיִקייט - doikayt - “hereness”
Here and then exists simultaneously in the present as it is retold, rehearsed, reshaped. Through archiving Jewish folktales, studying incantation bowls and Jewish households from the Aramaic period to now, When Souls Stick collages and interprets Jewish history and mysticism to discuss the human impulse, throughout time, to imbue matter with souls and purposes.
The exhibition, corresponding performances and workshops explore how non-conscious objects come to life through mystical encounters, making bonds through human attachments.
When Souls Stick
Photo of Isifor Kauffmann’s Gute Stube
1899
Traveling Installation (1899-1911) of the Jewish Museum in Vienna
In our tale, the Dybbuk (the vengeful ghost), Golem (the savior and destroyer), Ziz (sky and ruler of all birds) and Leviathan (the primordial sea monster) join in a familial affair, connected yet estranged, woven through the sharing of space. Through activated encounters, demons and angels appear.
The audience is asked to engage and move with the performers, following the Anti-Zionist diasporic concept of Doikayt, translated from Yiddish as “hereness.”
When Souls Stick
Closeup of chair made from chair in photo of Isifor Kauffmann’s “Gute Stube”
2023
Sculpture
33” H x 16” D x 15” W
Jess Bass has exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (2020, 2022), PLAY/GROUND (2022), Hyde Park Art Center (2022), Terrain Biennial (2021), SITE Gallery (2020), and Detroit Art Week (2019); and featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, ArtNews, PASTE, Fader and MTV.
When Souls Stick
Closeup of Candlestick Legs for a Table
2023
PLA, Spraypaint, Epoxy
28” H x 3” D
Gabriel Chalfin-Piney has exhibited at Bird Show (2023), Speedwell Projects (2022), Buoy Gallery (2022), Chicago Artists Coalition (2021, 2020), Terrain Exhibitions (2020), High Concept Labs (2019), The Kleinert James Center for the Arts (2017), The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (2017); and featured in New City Magazine, Spaces Archive, and Chicago Reader.
When Souls Stick
Closeup of Dybbuk costume
2023
Found metal, bull horn
Size varies
Related Programming and Events
Friday, September 1
6 - 9 P
Opening
with Performance by Zachary Nicol, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza Carrasco and Hannah Mira Friedland. Costumes by Liz Mortensen of Laila Textiles.
Sunday, September 3
12 - 2 P
Shpanyer Arbet: Shtetl Lace
Lecture and Workshop with Lily Homer
Sunday, September 10
12 - 2 P
Hiddur Mitzvah: Collaging the Senses
Candle Making Workshop with Gabriel Chalfin-Piney
Sunday, September 17
12 - 2 P
Un’Taneh Tokef: Sending and Receiving Through the Gates
Workshop on the High Holy Days with Adam Gottlieb
Sunday, October 1
11 - 2 P
Closing
with Moon Readings by Rebecca Beachy
and Performance by Zachary Nicol, Jasmine Lupe Mendoza Carrasco and Hannah Mira Friedland. Costumes by Liz Mortensen of Laila Textiles.
Special thanks to the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring our September exhibition and related programming.