TEL AVIV.- Magasin III Museum & Foundation for Contemporary Art in Stockholm, presents zerubbabel by Haim Steinbach, the inaugural exhibition in its new satellite space in Jaffa, greater Tel Aviv. zerubbabel is the Israeli-born American artist’s first solo show in his home country, and it marks the launch of a diverse program at Magasin III Jaffa that will feature both international and local artists.

Since the late 1970s, Steinbach’s practice has focused on selecting and arranging everyday objects from a spectrum of social and cultural contexts. Engaging them in the play of ‘display’, the objects are staged in their own right, emphasizing their identities, inherent meanings and associations.

zerubbabel, curated by David Neuman, includes ten works by Steinbach from the last 5 years, ranging from recent wall paintings, which focus on the essence of text, imagery and color, to objects presented in his architecturally defined boxes.

On entering the gallery from Olei Zion, visitors are being greeted by Steinbach’s large-scale pantonecoolgray10 (2016) and smaller tuttifrutti (2016), both wall paintings designed in vinyl decal and acrylic paint. Pantone is a company best known for its innovative system for identifying, matching and communicating colors, while “Tutti Frutti” may refer to the Israeli popsicle or the Little Richard song. The context of a work is important to Steinbach, and in his wall paintings he uses the architecture to duplicate the space, heightening our perception of it spatially.

Beside pantonecoolgray10, four handcrafted wood and glass boxes are shown alongside one other, each displaying a different tin container produced by Pantone. In these works, Steinbach explores our understanding of colors, through structures and framing devices for their presentation. His Untitled (bocce ball), (2013), a wooden bocce ball presented within a box on an adjacent wall, is an object of a game.

On another wall of the gallery is thelionking (2016), an extensive vinyl decal superimposed on an expanse of yellow ochre acrylic paint that depicts the silhouette of a lion’s head from the popular musical of the same name.

Steinbach’s work with language proposes that reading is an act of seeing, and even if this is not always, strictly speaking the case, the graphic codes which proliferate in our current media culture accustom us to word, object and image arriving in the same package. Steinbach is interested in the vernacular “saying,” the sort of speech that strikes us as both direct and shared, both common and readily understood. The promise of vernacular—in color, catch phrases, ad copy, figures of speech—makes communication seem effortless. Words, objects and images become memorable, easy to repeat. If language here hits its target, it is because the vernacular “saying” is an expression of readerly consensus or fluency on matters of social relations as well as about particular cultural meanings. By turning vernacular coloration into wall texts, wall paintings or objects, Steinbach subverts the original context of the language he has found and moves the objects toward new identifications and associations.

“Haim Steinbach belongs to the most quintessential group of Contemporary artists—those that so importantly have pushed the boundaries of visual expression. The upcoming exhibition will clearly establish a benchmark for future presentations at Magasin III Jaffa. It is our utmost pleasure to present Haim Steinbach’s art to local and international audiences”, says David Neuman.

Magasin III Jaffa spans 180 square meters (2000 square feet). The space has been carefully planned so that exhibitions can be viewed at any time of the day or night, curated with a special emphasis on also being viewed from the outside. The site for Magasin III Jaffa was chosen for its location as well as architectural qualities, and is located on 34 Olei Zion, a residential neighborhood that borders with Jaffa’s famous flea market at the epicenter of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim populations of Jaffa.

The General Manager of Magasin III Jaffa, Karmit Galili, says: “This is a truly exciting addition to our city. The satellite defines Magasin III’s longstanding involvement with the cultural scene here. The area where Magasin III Jaffa is located has a rich and mixed history and we are very much looking forward to contributing to it and engaging with new audiences.”