A lecture in conjunction with the exhibition  'Justine Frank (1900-1943): A Retrospective' by Roee Rosen

Roee Rosen's paintings, films and writings, have become known for their historical and theological consciousness, novelistic imagination, and psychological ambition. His work addresses the representation of history, the political economy of memory, and the politics of identity, often exploring the tension between trauma, horror, humor, and truth.

One of Rosen's recent projects is Justine Frank, a fictional surrealist artist, having purportedly been born in Antwerp in 1900 and died in Tel Aviv in 1943. Rosen created Justine Frank's biography and her entire oeuvre as an artist, and wrote the novel Sweet Sweat in her name. This exceptionally expansive project took five years to complete, and is currently on display at Extra City. In this accompanying lecture, Roee Rosen will examine certain motifs present in the artwork and pornographic writings of Justine Frank, through comparative reflections on the Polish-Jewish Messiah, Jacob Frank, and the French thinker, Georges Bataille.

Rosen was born in Rehovot, Israel, in 1963, and received degrees in visual art from the School of Visual Arts and Hunter College, both in New York. He now lives in Israel, where he teaches art and art history at Bezalel Academy of Art and at Beit Berl College.

Language English