Bright, colourful, so near - and yet so far away. Naomi Leshem's 'Sleepers' at Kunst(zeug)Haus, Rapperswil

Sleep is the state of utmost calm. The eyes are closed, the body moves only occasionally and the dreamers rove about in other worlds. Especially in deep sleep.

Naomi Leshem photographed young people in Germany, France, Israel, Switzerland and the United States in their bedrooms and in this very state. They are present, bright, colourful, close to the touch but somehow, they are somewhere else. ‘Sleepers’.

The photographer deliberately chose the deepest phase of sleep for her perfectly illuminated night protocols. One almost cannot help getting the impression that those sleeping only pretend to do so. By looking at their surroundings, we can assume where their dreams may have taken them to. . .

Naomi Leshem was born in 1963 in Jerusalem, is a native of Bern and lives close to Tel Aviv. She is considered one of Israel’s most interesting photographers. Following exhibitions in Israel, the US and Austria, her works were exhibited in Switzerland in 2009.

The ‘Runways’ project was published as a book in Israel in 2009 and awarded the renowned Constantiner Photography Award. For the project, the artist deals with the very personal intersection that lies between life and death. You can find an extract hereby.

The Kunst(Zeug)Haus presents the 32 pictures from the ‘Sleepers’ series until the 3rd of April 2011. Benteli published the accompanying catalogue.


Naomi Leshem. Sleepers

Kunst(Zeug)Haus
Schönbodenstrasse 1
8640 Rapperswil
Switzerland
Until the 3rd of April 2011

Benteli Verlag
112 Pages
Published by Michael Guggenheimer and Peter Röllin
With Texts by David Albahari, Urs Faes, Ulla Hahn, Ruven Kuperman, Eshkol Nevo and Eran Zur
German / English / Hebrew
ISBN 978-3-7165-1672-0
40 Euro