Irina Birger

Irina Birger was born in Moscow, completed high school in Serbia and studied fine arts at the Bezalel Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Jerusalem and at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Irina's works are part of many private and public collections. She exhibited and participated in screenings in Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, Haifa Museum of Art, Mediamatic (NL), W139 (NL), Apexart New York, Preview Berlin, Garage Moscow, The Israeli Center for Digital Art, Chinese European Art Center, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam etc.  

In Eastern Europe, where I grew up, drawing was the most important subject in our art education. I am still thinking that an artist who never draws is unable to observe and analyze the world around properly.

 I have done many different projects and experimented with video, photography, social projects and installations. Very often I combined drawing medium within those projects of mine as a part of installation or video.

Spending a lot of time in my studio, I have become more and more focused on drawing as my major practice. I have started to reconsider my point of departure in contemporary art and society in general and to try to find my position in it. I believe that the whole world is an organized system where everyone has a certain place and role like an abstract figure/point/line has in a pattern. Each of my drawings is a mini universe with its own rules and order. In the same way I am looking for a perfect composition in my works; trying to find a balance between lines, colors and points, I attempt to place myself within the society as one of its universal elements.

I have adopted quite an intuitive approach in my drawings that allows me to think while working. My work’s visual language takes its cue from abstract scientific patterns as well as pop-cultural elements, everyday objects and personal icons which being exhibited, are isolated and arranged in such a way that new connections tend to become visible.
Irina Birger     

Irina Birger's residency was made possible thanks to the Mondriaan Funds. 

Photo credits: Marcel van der Vlugt