I. S. Kalter

Mountains is pleased to present a new solo exhibition by I. S. Kalter, featuring new and recent work from the artist's Fleshworks series. This is the second exhibition by I. S. Kalter with the gallery.

Fleshworks is an ongoing body of works since 2019. Most of the works in the exhibition were created, in whole or in part, during wartime in the artist's studio located in a storefront in Tel Aviv's Old North, and completed after the massacre of October 7, 2023.

'Fleshwork' is a term I. S. Kalter coined to describe a form of art materializing from personal flashbacks. Fleshwork is abstract, subjective cognitive and a physical state of consciousness that becomes tangible and merges with objective reality. Fleshwork is the raw and finished product, the incarnation of a flashback.

Fleshworks, composed using mixed media techniques and oil painting, stands as a raw, sincere testament to prolonged trauma and enduring resistance. Its organic, non-geometric forms and abject materiality evoke discomfort – ugly, fragile, and undeniably human. The works' refusal to conform is in its protest against violence and dogma, especially in times of war. Yet precisely because of its strange, unsettling nature, it becomes muktzeh machmat mi'us – set aside, repulsive to many. It is both a sacred offering and an object of exile, suspended between the need to be seen and the urge to turn away.

I. S. Kalter (b. 1986) lives and works in Tel Aviv, Yafo. He is an artist working mostly with painting, assemblage and the curatorial medium. He received his MFA from Hunter College, New York, NY (2017), where he studied under the guidance of Prof. Thierry de Duve. I. S. Kalter received his BFA from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, IL (2013), in the framework of which he also attended The Slade School of Fine Arts, London, UK (2011). Since 2017, he runs the nomadic exhibition space Ventilator.

Recent solo and group exhibitions were hosted by venues such as Mountains, Berlin, DE (2026); Art Cologne, Mallorca, ES (2026); Casa Degli Artisti, Milan, IT (2025); Aperto Space / Fondation Pernod Ricard, Paris (2024); Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft, DE (2024); Mountains, Berlin, DE (2023); Gold+Beton, Cologne, DE (2023); Art Dusseldorf, DE (2023); Documenta XV, Kassel, DE (2022); Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, DE (2022); Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod, IL (2022); Zona Mista, London, UK (2022); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, IL (2021); Institut Français, Tel Aviv, IL (2021); CCA Tel Aviv - Yafo, IL (2020); Art Basel, Basel, CH (2019); Placement Produit, Paris, FR (2019), among others.

I. S. Kalter received several fellowships, grants and scholarships and participated in residencies including Cité Internationale des Arts, The Bronner Residency (Kunststiftung NRW), Düsseldorf, VIR-Via Farini, Milano, The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Foundation Grant, Artis Contemporary Exhibition Grant, The Jean and Albert Nerken Scholarship Fund, Asylum Arts Research Grant, The Rabinovich Foundation Grant, the Israel Lottery Council for Culture and Arts Grant and others.

His works and writings were published on Mousse, Artnet, Spike Art Magazine, Artforum, HaAretz, Monopol Magazine, Passeavant, Gallerytalknet, Art-in-Berlin, Point Contemporain, Columbia Uni. Journal for Literature and Art, Contemporary Art Daily, KubaParis, Artviewer, Tzvetnik and more.