Zadok Ben-David "Second Nature"
Gyre Gallery
Starts 2/14
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Zadok Ben-David
Second Nature brings together a curated selection of works by Zadok Ben David that, until now, have not shared the same space. Spanning multiple periods of the artist’s practice, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience these pieces in dialogue—revealing connections, shifts in intention, and recurring motifs that thread across time. The exhibition includes the larger installations ‘Blackfield’ and ‘The Other Side of Midnight’, as well as wall pieces ‘Evolution and Theory’ and ‘Natural Reserve’, video artworks including ‘Conversation Peace’ and ‘Same place Other Times (Panorama)’, and new aluminium sculptures using images of flowers and trees. The selected images from nature appear in Ben David’s works as metaphors for psychological human attitudes. Human beings tend to forget that they are an equal part of nature and importantly, guests on planet Earth. Unfortunately, humanity is exploiting and constantly experimenting in order to control nature to suit never ending, immediate, needs. As a result there are backlashes and we are now facing a world in climate crisis.
‘Evolution and Theory’ looks back at the development of scientific theories from the 19th century. It covers themes of gravity, magnetism, gases, optical illusions, machine technologies, and many more, alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution. It deals with the past, the search for the origin of man, and also man’s exploration of the future and scientific discovery. There is a nostalgia for a time when you could see the results of scientific experiments with the naked eye. Now, everything seems to be hidden in microchips. ‘Natural Reserve’, like ‘Evolution and Theory’, uses images predominantly drawn from 19th Century illustrated books. It includes various aspects of the nature that surround us; animals, plants, and human beings, mixed together to create a mosaic of nature. Every year a great number of creatures become extinct forever due to the actions of humans. In ‘Natural Reserve’, humans and animals are displayed equally, they are held together, each an integral puzzle piece, all vital in creating the whole image. The video artworks in the exhibition all share the feature of being continuous loops. ‘Conversation Peace’ contains imagery used in many of Zadok Ben David’s works over the last fifteen years, including various natural species. It uses the format of the continuous loop to tell a vicious circular story, a futile war, and humanities self destruction, which threatens to destroy our planet.
Much of the artwork in the exhibition oscillates between juxtapositions; ‘The Other Side of Midnight’, is displayed in an entirely dark room, the viewer is initially lured closer with images of beautifully luminous butterflies, shown in a wonderfully vibrant sphere. Butterflies are seen as lovely creatures, if one were to land on your palm you would be filled with joy. As the viewer moves around the piece it reveals a milieux of cockroaches and beetles. They are also insects, they even have wings like butterflies, but without the enchanting colours they cause feelings of disgust and revulsion, if one would land on your hands you would brush it away. The viewer is asked to question their preconditioned notions of the way humans present themselves, and the superficiality with which we often see each other. ‘Blackfield’ begins by introducing a field of seeming destruction, a landscape of thousands of tiny blackened flowers, before revealing a kaleidoscope of colour, very much alive, as one walks around to view the other side piece. Where there is grief there is also joy, where there is despair there is always hope.
While each piece stands on its own, their collective presence here creates a new narrative of Zadok Ben David’s evolving artistic language, and invites the viewer to find new meaning in the collected works, specifically regarding their own place in the natural world. By gathering these distinct pieces together, Second Nature invites viewers to reconsider the familiar and discover the unseen. The result is a fresh, layered portrait of an artist continually in motion—revisiting, reimagining, and reshaping their vision of the world around them. This is a one-time opportunity to witness a body of work in such alignment.
‘Evolution and Theory’ looks back at the development of scientific theories from the 19th century. It covers themes of gravity, magnetism, gases, optical illusions, machine technologies, and many more, alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution. It deals with the past, the search for the origin of man, and also man’s exploration of the future and scientific discovery. There is a nostalgia for a time when you could see the results of scientific experiments with the naked eye. Now, everything seems to be hidden in microchips. ‘Natural Reserve’, like ‘Evolution and Theory’, uses images predominantly drawn from 19th Century illustrated books. It includes various aspects of the nature that surround us; animals, plants, and human beings, mixed together to create a mosaic of nature. Every year a great number of creatures become extinct forever due to the actions of humans. In ‘Natural Reserve’, humans and animals are displayed equally, they are held together, each an integral puzzle piece, all vital in creating the whole image. The video artworks in the exhibition all share the feature of being continuous loops. ‘Conversation Peace’ contains imagery used in many of Zadok Ben David’s works over the last fifteen years, including various natural species. It uses the format of the continuous loop to tell a vicious circular story, a futile war, and humanities self destruction, which threatens to destroy our planet.
Much of the artwork in the exhibition oscillates between juxtapositions; ‘The Other Side of Midnight’, is displayed in an entirely dark room, the viewer is initially lured closer with images of beautifully luminous butterflies, shown in a wonderfully vibrant sphere. Butterflies are seen as lovely creatures, if one were to land on your palm you would be filled with joy. As the viewer moves around the piece it reveals a milieux of cockroaches and beetles. They are also insects, they even have wings like butterflies, but without the enchanting colours they cause feelings of disgust and revulsion, if one would land on your hands you would brush it away. The viewer is asked to question their preconditioned notions of the way humans present themselves, and the superficiality with which we often see each other. ‘Blackfield’ begins by introducing a field of seeming destruction, a landscape of thousands of tiny blackened flowers, before revealing a kaleidoscope of colour, very much alive, as one walks around to view the other side piece. Where there is grief there is also joy, where there is despair there is always hope.
While each piece stands on its own, their collective presence here creates a new narrative of Zadok Ben David’s evolving artistic language, and invites the viewer to find new meaning in the collected works, specifically regarding their own place in the natural world. By gathering these distinct pieces together, Second Nature invites viewers to reconsider the familiar and discover the unseen. The result is a fresh, layered portrait of an artist continually in motion—revisiting, reimagining, and reshaping their vision of the world around them. This is a one-time opportunity to witness a body of work in such alignment.
Schedule | Feb 14 (Sat) 2026-Apr 19 (Sun) 2026 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://en.gyre-omotesando.com/artandgallery/zadok/ | ||||
| Venue | Gyre Gallery https://en.gyre-omotesando.com/art/ | ||||
| Location | 3F Gyre, 5-10-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 4 minute walk from exit 5 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. 5 minute walk from exit A1 at Omotesando Station on the Hanzomon, Chiyoda and Ginza lines, 6 minute walk from the Omotesando exit of JR Harajuku Station. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3498-6990 |
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