Maya Zack's 'Camera Obscura' at Galerie Natalie Seroussi

Maya Zack's first solo exhibition in France, 'Camera Obscura', was held at Galerie Natalie Seroussi in Paris from May 19 to July 19, 2011. Curated by Marie Shek, the show features two films projected in a dark room that occupies almost the entire gallery. A peephole allows viewers to watch the videos from outside, creating an effect of intimacy and distance. The films explore themes of measurement, memory, and the Holocaust. In 'Black and White Rule' (2011), a trainer attempts to tame two poodles on a monumental chessboard while a scientist observes and records experiments, leading to a nightmarish scene. 'Mother Economy' (2007) depicts a 1940s housewife meticulously measuring objects with a compass and abacus, drawing outlines on pink paper, and preparing a kugel that emerges as a circular diagram. The absence of other characters and the German radio hint at the tragic context of the Holocaust. The exhibition also includes photographs and drawings derived from the films.