Daniella Wexler is an artist who is constantly innovating. In a new take on Found Objects, she uses technology as a raw art form. In a group of multi-media works, gifted to the Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem, keyboards with marbles, vinyl records with stickers, and computer keys embedded in concrete, all come to life in compositions that appear animated. Whether stick-like figures holding hands or organic blocks of vegetative or stone material to be found in nature, their colors and movement belie their roots in technology. 

Two of her previous series in acrylic on canvas, "From One to Ten" (2021-2022), and “What do the colors tell us?” (2023-2024), recall the European avant-garde CoBrA artist group (active from 1948-1951) who sought a creative alternative to abstract art in child-like improvisation and coloration. 

In her present retrospective, opening at the Jerusalem Theatre in June 2025, the historical works appear in reproduction, embellished with painted decorative margins and additional new images. In a guised reference to cultural critic Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935), Wexler’s new additions essentially convert the reproduction into a new artwork. This use of appropriation is, for Wexler, another form of Ready-Made. The coloration of the background accentuates the past work without overwhelming it. As in the marginal decorations of medieval manuscripts, the surrounding illustrations are open to free improvisation, telling a new story alongside the works from the past. The leitmotif of the series, the bird, embodies freedom for the artist, as well as existential angst. 

Daniella Wexler (née Racine) (b. 1952) immigrated to Israel with her parents and sister from France. Her parents were involved in Zionist activities throughout their lives. Her father was invited to Israel by the government to set up the national oil company Delek. Daniella’s late husband Uzi Wexler (1938-2017) was a builder of Jerusalem and founded the Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem. Daniella worked in the State Advocacy, and as a judge in Jerusalem. Initially exhibiting her early work in galleries, such as the Engel Gallery, Jerusalem, she only returned to exhibit later, following the end of her term in the judicial system. Since then, her works have been shown in many exhibitions in Israel and abroad. Wexler is a published author whose books include: Why Throw It Out? (2015) and My Life Under a Tree (2021).

Theatre Gallery
1.6.25-30.6.25

דניאלה וכסלר, ציפורים דעתן קלה, 2024, אקריליק על בד. התצלום באדיבות האומנית