Zvi Lachman’s exhibition, Crossing Line, at the Rothschild Fine Art Gallery in Tel Aviv, offers a profound and unflinching exploration of the human soul amid the harrowing din of violence and turmoil. It challenges its audience to confront not only the depths of human cruelty but also the quiet sparks of hope and endurance that flicker, even in the darkest of times.
At the core of the exhibition lies Lachman’s Tablets series, a triptych of wax reliefs shaped in response to the unspeakable events of October 7. The works: Crossing Line, Shelter, and Howl are raw, visceral articulations of the emotional and psychological scars left in the wake of conflict.
Reflecting on the exhibition’s central piece, Lachman said: “In Crossing Line, I attempted to confront this question that has been tormenting me since the shock of October 7, through three distinct mediums.” His inquiry, an attempt to capture the ungraspable, pulsates through every piece on display.
“At this moment, as we stand alert and cry out for the return of all the abducted individuals, it’s hard to identify that ‘crossing line’ that might lead us out of this ongoing disaster into a new reality. There is no absolute victory. Since October 7, we have been increasingly exposed to what feels like sheer horror. The brutality and cruelty we have experienced, both directly and indirectly, have reconnected me to the history of human pain.”
The title piece, Crossing Line, draws inspiration from Nicolas Poussin’s chilling painting The Massacre of the Innocents, which depicts a mother’s desperate, futile attempt to protect her child from the horrors of war. Lachman’s relief encapsulates the raw chaos and unrelenting anguish of this tragic moment, with the “crossing line” symbolizing shattered boundaries – life and death, innocence, and violence. Here, the line is not just a threshold but a rupture, a point of irreversible division.
Shelter, another key work, offers a contemporary reimagining of the iconic Medieval Pietà. It is a mother cradling her child in a tender yet fierce embrace. The piece speaks to the primal instinct for survival and the unwavering power of maternal love, even in the face of unimaginable adversity. There is a solemn grace in the way the mother shelters her child as if she is the last refuge and the final defiance against the encroaching storm.
Howl evokes a startling parallel between the roaring masculinity of Abraham Melnikov’s The Roaring Lion and the mournful, feminine lament for the dead. Here, the lion’s roar is transmuted into a sorrowful cry that reverberates with the loss and grief of conflict – an unsettling sound that resonates long after the viewer has left the gallery.
The exhibition’s centerpiece, Lachman’s Ecce Homo, is an evocative meditation on suffering, resilience, and the reclamation of humanity. The title, meaning “Behold the Man,” draws from both the suffering of Jesus and the dehumanization chronicled in Primo Levi’s If This Is a Man. Lachman describes the work as part of his ongoing effort to “raise the face from the ashes” and “return and establish a man” in the wake of the October 7 attacks. The sculpture stands as a poignant metaphor for humanity’s struggle to rise from the ashes of violence, to reclaim dignity in a world that has tried to erase it.
As Lachman reflects on the broader scope of his work, he acknowledges the immense challenge of conveying something of this brutality, which shatters humanity and threatens to annihilate it, while simultaneously striving to preserve the human spirit and give it expression. This is the profound tension that runs through the exhibition –a struggle to hold on to what is most human, even as it is relentlessly tested.
Lachman’s Broken Time war journal offers a deeply personal and intimate look into the psychological and emotional toll of conflict. The journal, through portraits, landscapes, and animal figures, functions as a seismograph of Lachman’s internal world, capturing the anxieties, fears, and uncertainties of living through such tumult. The journal is a raw, unfiltered expression of the inner chaos that mirrors the violence outside.
The exhibition also features a collection of bronze sculptures – Passion, Survival, and Collapse – inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Parable of the Blind. These sculptures explore the tensions between linear and circular movement, creation, and destruction, asking whether we can ever truly escape the cyclical nature of human suffering. Lachman’s mastery of form and texture creates an unsettling rhythm in the works, a pulse that echoes the fragility of existence.
Other inclusions of the exhibition
The exhibition also includes Self-Portrait with Theodor Herzl, a striking work that raises profound questions about identity, memory, and belonging in a fractured world. In this self-portrait, Lachman places himself alongside Herzl – the founding father of modern Zionism – evoking a sense of continuity and rupture in equal measure. The piece asks: Where do we stand in the long arc of history, and how do we define ourselves when the world around us is collapsing?
“The shock and silence that gripped us require us to use a new language,” said Yaniv Shapira, the curator of the show. “In Lachman’s works, the attempt to capture the moment and, at the same time, previous times – perhaps all of time – is evident.”
Crossing Line is an unforgettable exhibition, especially now, when we are all looking for a little hope. Lachman’s masterful interweaving of historical and contemporary references, coupled with his meticulous exploration of the human condition, creates a deeply stirring experience – both intellectually and emotionally. It is a call to reflect, to grieve, to heal, and to ultimately transcend the darkness.
Zvi Lachman, Crossing Line, Rothschild Fine Art Gallery, 2 Maor Moshe St., Tel Aviv. For opening hours and more details, visit www.rgfineart.com