Maya Dunietz: Root of Two is a 144-page catalogue that accompanies an exhibition of the same title, on view at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in 2022. Co-published by the Bemis Center and X Artists' Books and designed by Omnivore, this catalogue traverses the career of experimental musician and composer Maya Dunietz, unveiling her multidisciplinary practice that has spanned performance, composition, sculpture and installation, avant-garde theatrical performance, and choir work. Edited by Rachel Adams, Chief Curator and Director of Programs at the Bemis Center, contributors include Rachel Adams, Chris Cook, Maya Dunietz, Michael Pisaro, Galit Eilat, Ariel Ashbel, Chen Tamir, Sergio Edelsztein, Ran Kasmy Ilan, and Keren Rosenbaum.
Maya Dunietz is a musician and artist based in Israel. Dunietz creates sculptures, installations and performances, combining classical singing, instrumentation, and recording techniques with digital technologies and a varied array of materials. She merges disciplines into a single malleable mass. Her works are influenced by their spatial context; furthermore, they invite audiences to listen carefully to the echoes and vibrations created by their interaction with the installed objects. Her works have been exhibited in museums and galleries such as Centre Pompidou, Paris (2018); FracPaca Museum, Marseille (2018); CCA, Tel Aviv (2016); Palais De Tokyo, Paris (2014); Arnolfini Center For Contemporary Art, Bristol (2013), among others.
Rachel Adams is the Chief Curator and Director of Programs at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Her areas of interest are varied but focus on creating meaningful connections for artists. Projects tend to include the crossover between contemporary art and architecture, performance and video and new media practices. Adams holds an MA in Exhibition and Museum Studies from SFAI and a BFA from SAIC.
Chris Cook, Executive Director of Bemis Center since 2015, guides and shapes the organization's vision while leading Bemis's operational and core programmatic activities. He brings to the organization twenty years of curatorial and non-profit management experience. Since graduating in 2002 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a master's degree in art history, theory, and criticism, Cook has organized over sixty exhibitions.
Ariel Efraim Ashbel is a performance maker. He is a graduate of the school of visual theater Jerusalem (2006) and holds a BA in philosophy and history from Tel Aviv University (2011). Weaving together a wide array of historical, political, theoretical, and pop culture references, his pieces are interdisciplinary compositions at the intersection of theater, dance, music, and installation. He also collaborates as a performer, dramaturg and light designer.
Sergio Edelsztein was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1956. In 1995 he founded the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, which he directed until 2018. He is now a freelance curator, writer and publisher.
