Current Exhibit
Lili Almog - Perfect Intimacy
Runs through June 15, 2008
‘Perfect Intimacy’ Revealed Through Photographer’s Eyes
52 Avenue A at Second Street - Downtown Turners Falls, Massachusetts
The exhibit "Perfect Intimacy" by Lili Almog opens at Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography on March 20, 2008. The New York City-based photographer has taken her exploration of women and their private spaces into the cloistered worlds of three female Carmelite monasteries in Maryland, United States; Haifa, Israel; and Bethlehem, Palestine. The exhibit continues through June 15, 2008 at Hallmark Museum of Contemporary Photography Gallery 52, Turners Falls, Massachusetts.An Artist's Reception with live music and hors d'oeuvres will be held at Galleries 52 and 56 from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. The museum will be open extra hours on this date until 7 p.m. An Illustrated Artist's Talk will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Hallmark Institute of Photography Educational Center, 27 Industrial Boulevard, Turners Falls, Massachusetts. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.; seating begins at 7:15 p.m. Refreshments will be served during a brief intermission at 8:15 p.m. and Ms. Almog will sign copies of her book, "Perfect Intimacy", at 9:30 p.m.
The color photographs of "Perfect Intimacy" are rich, timeless, and offer a candid view of women who have chosen monastic lives. Almog writes, "I stepped through that door to continue my exploration of women and their private spaces - to objectively experience the cloistered world these women live in, and to symbolically capture their essence, the state of mind and the spiritual identity of these women who were influenced by western culture in yet another way."
"Perfect Intimacy" was created during a two-year period in which the Israeli-born Almog immersed herself in a lifestyle choice that is often not understood by the secular world. Almog's choices were significant: Mont Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the order was first founded; Jesus' birthplace in Bethlehem, Palestine; and, Carmel of Port Tobacco in Maryland, the first Carmelite monastery founded in the United States. Almog writes, "These monasteries occupy their locations like bubbles in the middle of the estranged, non-religious neighborhoods. Here, behind closed doors, the nuns live contented and absorbed in a state of unconditional love and surrender to their savior."
Almog's work has been widely exhibited internationally for over ten years, and her images may be found in museum collections in Israel, Belgium, Denmark, England and the United States.
Among honors Almog has received are the 2004 Golden Light Award: Honorable Mention Top Photographer (Fine Art), and, International Photography Awards 2004: Professional Honorable Mention Fine Art.
In 2006, for her book "Perfect Intimacy," Almog received Photo District News Best Photography Book; The Art Directors Club Merit Award for Best Photo Book; and an Honorable Mention from the International Photography Awards 2006. In 2007 her book was a Catholic Press award winner.