Celebrating Simple Pleasures of the Past (and Present)

Tami Bahat, who was born in Israel in 1979 and is now based in Los Angeles, “will tell you she was born in the wrong era.” This is because from an early age she realized her outlook on life was more aligned with the “sensibility, formality, and style…” of the Victorian era.

On her path to becoming a photographer, Bahat rejected the traditional path of art school and learned the history of art from books, museums and family trips, where she was exposed to paintings by the Old Masters of the Baroque and Renaissance Periods, whose works have had a lasting effect.

On July 12, Past is Present, a solo exhibition of photographs by Bahat, opens at Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago.

Bahat’s photographic tableaus speak directly to paintings by artists such as Vermeer and Rembrandt, who used soft window and candle light to reveal quiet moments. Using iconography from the Victorian era, she assembles intimate scenes for viewers to contemplate. “Through lighting, subject matter and metaphor, Bahat’s images transport us back to an era void of technology, when simple pleasures like writing, painting, or reading was the norm,” states Catherine Edelman Gallery.

As part of the Past is Present exhibition, Bahat will create various rooms styled from the past, which incorporate her photographs in vintage frames on the wall. Visitors will be able to walk into a bedroom setting, a sitting room, and reading area, transporting themselves to another time when the past is present. By creating these installations, the artist invites the public to slow down reflect on quiet joys that are often overlooked.

Past is Present
By Tami Bahat
Catherine Edelman Gallery
Through August 30, 2019
Opening reception July 12, 2019