Herzl / Photograph /  2015

Herzl’s portrait has always been identified with the Zionist movement. It appears on posters, pamphlets, stamps, bills, and KKL-JNF certificates. His erect stance, penetrating gaze, and thick beard epitomize the national hero adopted by the Zionist movement: a prehistoric prophet in modern attire.

Herzl himself frequently posed for photographers, painters, and sculptors. As a man of art and media, he was undoubtedly aware of the importance of symbols when shaping consciousness. Obviously, he was right. His portrait was used in Zionist movement assemblies from the very first Zionist Congress, was ceremoniously hung behind that of Ben-Gurion on the Declaration of Independence, and currently appears in kindergartens and schools.

Yael Bartana’s series of photographs titled “Herzl” was generated through the ongoing dialogue she conducts with the legendary figure and “visionary of the State of Israel”. They have much in common. Both walked the thin line between art and life, between conceptualization and action, and between vision and political activity. Both have specialized in an aesthetic that propels the masses, and both clearly comprehend that humanity is fashioned by the symbols that delineate its landscape and environment.

In this photographic series, Bartana herself delves into the classic figure of Herzl. She dives within it, taking it on completely. The artist become a statesman and the female artist that chose to expatriate herself from the country born of his vision, and who even called on millions of Jews to return to Europe, now become one. The result is a utopian mutation: a transgender, expatriated, foreign, and familiar Herzl.