Curated by Chen Tamir

The famous guitar smashers of history have traditionally been men: Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Kurt Cobain. Naama Tsabar first appropriated this macho gesture in a 2014 performance, during which she wielded her instrument like an ax to destroy the stage. Tsabar’s recent sonic sculptures merge the visual language of Minimalism with raw acoustic power. Activated by female-identified performers and audiences, these works question the auratic untouchability of the art object and the gendered conventions of popular music. For “Melody of a Certain Damage” at CCA Tel Aviv—which is accompanied by the artist’s first survey catalogue—Tsabar returns to her hometown with a room-size participatory string sculpture anchored by shattered guitar fragments. Continuing her investigation of intimacy and shifting perceptions of power, Tsabar will invite female musicians and, for the first time, choreographers to collaborate by playing the sculpture as it lies on the ground.

— Wendy Vogel