During the last decade, Nina Surel has advanced a very refined and thoughtful proposal. Using her body as unerring map and territory, her erudite work leads us into dark labyrinths populated by our own fears and prejudices. Addressing core issues associated with childhood, femininity, history and social stereotypes, Surel’s body of work stands as a witty, looming yet conveying portrayal of modern woman. Journey to Byzantium, the most recent exhibition by Nina Surel, is at once, a shift and a review of her own artistic trajectory so far. The hazardous trip -only comparable to that of Odysseus- is a determined battle not against time but against distorted preconceptions such as beauty, youth, fragility, and wealth. The only possible redemption once on the boat, is embracing the journey and with it, the joy in the path itself not exempt from suffering but rewarded, at last, by endurance and truth. Journey to Byzantium is a rite of passage. By waiving the colorful and convoluted universe of her earlier work, Nina Surel –like Caron- invites us to embark on the plank deprived of any means. Facing our weakness and our strength is the only and certain reward. Consisting of installations, mixed media works and video, Journey to Byzantium is a powerful statement about aging and self-awareness, misconceptions and self-confidence: death and rebirth.

Janet Batet