On the Other Side

The “On the Other Side” exhibition comprises sculptures and video installations created by Zadok Ben-David, the renowned Israeli and international artist. Some of the works are site specific, crafted especially for the Tower of David, while others have already been exhibited internationally and are being shown in Israel for the first time.

Opening just a short time before the anniversary of October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists waged the most savage attack on Jews since the Holocaust, the exhibition touches upon the pain that sliced through Israelis and Jews worldwide. Through images from the natural world, the exhibition reflects the tension between the boundaries of man and nature – between loss and renewed growth, between darkness and light, between despair and optimism.

Curator: Eilat Lieber

About the Artist

Ben-David was born in Yemen and made Aliyah with his family at the age of six months. He studied at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and completed his studies at St. Martin’s School of Art in London. In 1988, Ben-David was chosen to represent Israel at the Venice Biennale, and he went on to win many international awards, exhibiting his work across the globe.

Among his most iconic works are Blackfield which incorporates twenty thousand steel-etched flowers that are colorful on one side, and completely black on the other; Evolution & Theory which was exhibited at The Israel Museum in 2015, as part of the exhibition “A Brief History of Mankind”; and the installation People I Saw but Never Met where hetransformed his photographs of strangers in twenty-two countries into tiny metal sculptures set on a bed of sand. His works are exhibited in iconic sites throughout Israel.

“Jerusalem is part of my biography,” says Ben-David, who, lived in the city as a student. “No one can remain indifferent to this city; one meets the Shekhinah [the divine presence] as soon as one reaches Sha’ar HaGai, where the highway begins to ascend to Jerusalem,” he smiles.

About the Exhibition

For more than thirty years, Zadok Ben-David has been sculpting in iron and steel, testing the boundaries of the material and challenging it. The tension between the heavy metals and the images from the natural world are at the foundation of Ben-David’s works, alongside the element of surprise and the magic that he creates with color and substance. An exploration of contradictions and changing circumstances is the central motif in Ben-David’s lifelong work and is expressed in various ways by means of fantastical images inspired by the natural world which are metaphors for the complex spirit of man.

Works in the Exhibition

The Other Side of Midnight

The work, exhibited in a darkened space, consists of thousands of brightly colored painted miniature butterflies and insects. One side of the work offers the viewer a beautiful and optimistic world, optimistic but the other side of the piece changes that feeling to one of apprehension and reluctance at the sight of naked insects who are actually butterflies without wings. The work, first created in 2012, is presented here for the first time in Israel.

Same Place, Other Times

The video work depicts a gradual transition from light to darkness, day to night, life to death. A panorama of a blooming field that is slowly being destroyed until it is reduced to burnt earth symbolizes the cycle of life and is a contemporary metaphor for the October 7 disaster.

Cypress Trees/Fringe of the Field

The seven cypress trees, rising to a height of 3 meters each, were created especially for the exhibition

at the Tower of David. They are placed parallel to the citadel wall on the roof of the new entrance pavilion in a progression from withering to renewed growth. The cypress trees, cut by hand from weathered steel, consist of human figures that are part of the trees themselves.

Innerscapes on the Move

Figures in a circle stand on the remains of the round Muslim tower, once part of a citadel. In this installation the artist is interested in the relationship between the individual and the society around him and the dynamics between people in the wider circle of life.

Trio of Flowers

Created especially for the Tower of David, one side of each flower is painted in vivid colors and the other side is black and revealed only through a mirror. This is another reminder of the complexity with which Ben-David creates his work. Among the three flowers, the sabra plant symbolizes both Israeli and Arab culture. A glance out the door towards the balcony reveals a large natural sabra plant that has sunk roots over many years deep into the antiquities of the Tower of David.

The exhibition extends from the new entrance pavilion situated to the west of the Citadel, along the Archeological Garden inside the Victor and Esther Achar Citadel Amphitheater, to the hexagonal hall at the Citadel’s eastern gate.

Entry to the exhibit Included in the museum entry ticket