Collection: "The Pinocchio Moment" organized by Avner Chaim

a ceramic bust

About the Exhibition


I have always felt that Pinocchio is a powerful allegory for what art is and how it can become a living part of our world.

As the story goes, a woodworker was given a wooden block that had a voice. With some woodworking and carving, this block became a living boy. The transformative moment in which the material changes its energy –and comes to life– through the creative process and the artist's touch, is the magic I call the 'Pinocchio moment'.

When I visited NIAD, I went into the ceramics room. Inside, I was surrounded by so many magical objects; some felt like they had taken on a life of their own. Wanting to share this experience and relive it, I picked a few of them for this show.

About the Organizer


Avner Chaim is a painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY in 2017 and a BFA from Shenker College in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2015.