Masquerade Ball – A Solo Exhibition by Betty Wachsstock Schönfeld, Purim 2025 Exhibition | Alrov Mamilla Avenue, Dates: February 9, 2025 – April 20, 2025, Curator: Michal Sadan
The solo exhibition Masquerade Ball by internationally acclaimed Israeli artist Betty Wachsstock Schönfeld unveils a vibrant world of smiling faces, white-gloved hands, and costumes drenched in yellow and orange hues. Infused with an infectious sense of joy, movement, and dance, Wachsstock’s works radiate an exuberance that captivates the viewer. A Dance of Color, Masks, and Illusions
Born in Belgium, Wachsstock draws inspiration from the realms of dance, opera, and Commedia dell’Arte. Music is an inseparable companion to her creative process, guiding her hands and breathing life into her figures as they emerge onto the canvas.
As Purim approaches, the spirit of Venice’s legendary Carnival—a festival of creativity, imagination, and joyful defiance of routine—becomes a guiding muse for this exhibition. Through her distinct artistic language, Wachsstock delves into the duality of masks and clowns in our lives, navigating the interplay between exposure and concealment, truth and deception, dreams and disillusionment. Her artistic exploration traverses both cultural and environmental perspectives, as well as intimate themes of self-revelation and disguise. Reinterpreting the Archetype of the Clown.
This exhibition unfolds as an ode to the rich and diverse interpretations of the clown figure—blending historical traditions with contemporary artistic sensibilities. Each work echoes the past while embracing a modern, innovative spirit.
Wachsstock’s lifelong passion for artistic creation has been an unstoppable force. Today, she works from her studio in Petah Tikva, where she also teaches and mentors others. Her practice seamlessly integrates a multitude of techniques and artistic references, merging the mystical and the fantastical with everyday reality. Past and present converge in a cosmic, free-flowing, and intuitive dialogue.
A Vivid Collision of Realism and Fantasy
In Masquerade Ball, Wachsstock navigates the thin boundary between realism and fantasy, manifesting in figurative and abstract sculptures bursting with intense color. Dominated by bold reds, yellows, and oranges, the exhibition invites the viewer into a personal adventure—an invitation to touch, to explore, and to delve into the hidden corners of the human soul.
Throughout her career, Wachsstock’s work has been distinguished by its energy, optimism, and an open dialogue with the viewer. Her artistic language is expressive and communicative, seamlessly blending order with chaos, interior with exterior, passion with elegance. She remains fiercely authentic, breaking conventions and continuously seeking innovative forms of expression. For Wachsstock, art is a vessel to illuminate the beauty and goodness in our world.
Her approach bridges the classical and the surreal, weaving sculptural tradition with ethereal, spiritual, and surrealist influences. Her works are layered—both in physical materiality and emotional depth—crafted through a fusion of diverse materials, mixed media, and pure intuition.
A recurring motif in her art is transcendence—the longing to break free from the material, to release the body, to think beyond constraints, and to ascend ever higher.
Betty Wachsstock Schönfeld’s artistic universe is one of celebration, movement, and introspection, a place where masks reveal as much as they conceal—inviting us all to join in the dance.
Admission is free. For more details, visit: Bettywachsstockart.com
