Israel House

Israel House (2009) belongs to Berend Strik's acclaimed solo exhibition Thixotropy at Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam (13 June – 18 July 2009). The work was created during Strik's journey to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where he visited both Palestinian and Jewish settlements.

The exhibition title refers to a chemical property where materials shift between gel and liquid states — fitting for an artist who transforms fixed photographic moments into fluid, layered realities. As Strik himself explains: "A photo cannot freeze time. Photos are imaginary, because what you see in a photo is no longer the same the moment you look at the photo. For me, photos are unfinished, open, incomplete."

In Israel House, everyday domestic scenes are embellished with delicate textile interventions — tulle, velvet, threads — adding new layers of meaning. The photographs occupy what Strik calls an "intermediate space" between the documentary and the fictional, where memory, association, and material transformation converge.

The work forms part of a quartet with Palestinian House, Arafat, and Ramallah, examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through intimate domestic imagery. Together they display everyday scenes with a subtle subtext of tensions, challenging viewers to look beyond the surface of familiar imagery. A catalogue Thixotropy: Transfixed, Stitched Photographs (Valiz, 2009) accompanied the exhibition with texts by Sophie Berrebi, Matthijs Bouw, and Laurie Cluitmans.

Sources: Galerie Fons Welters · Artmap review · Valiz catalogue