{"id":19875,"date":"2025-07-24T06:38:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T06:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19875\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T06:38:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T06:38:16","slug":"after-tragedy-galila-barzilai-found-herself-anew-through-collecting-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/19875\/","title":{"rendered":"After Tragedy, Galila Barzila\u00ef Found Herself Anew Through Collecting Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art Market<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rajesh Punj<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Interior view of Galila\u2019s P.O.C. \u00a9 Damon Debacker. Courtesy of Galila Barzila\u00ef. <\/p>\n

In a world where art collecting can easily be influenced by the opinions of others, Galila Barzila\u00ef\u2019s spirited attitude is as individualized as they come. <\/p>\n

Based in Brussels, Galila has been collecting art for two decades, an endeavor that began after the passing of her husband, who was a collector of antiquities. She left Europe to take a short trip to New York and attended The Armory Show, initially assuming that the art fair would be an exhibition of armor\u2014 the metal kind, that is. <\/p>\n

But what was at first a misunderstanding soon became a source of discovery\u2014and the beginning of her ongoing journey into contemporary art. While there, she acquired her first work: a small, unassuming drawing of the word \u2018why?\u2019 repeated 11,522 times by the Canadian artist Tom Fowler. The moment proved poignant: The work was purchased as \u201can emotional echo to a very painful moment in my life, just a few months after my husband passed away,\u201d she recalled. \u201cLess than half an hour later, I had experienced a sense of rebirth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Galila\u2019s collecting has been led not by trends or fashion but by the artists she encounters and the works she is instinctively drawn to. For her, acquiring art is a deeply personal process that she firmly believes should never be dictated by others. It\u2019s also something that she can\u2019t stop doing. \u201cI am not an art collector,\u201d she told Artsy. \u201cI am an\u202fartoholic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Portrait of Galila Barzila\u00ef. \u00a9 Damon Debacker. Courtesy of Galila Barzila\u00ef. <\/p>\n

Guillermo Mora, Desde aqui te veo mejor, 2013. Courtesy of Guillermo Mora & Galila’s Collection, Belgium.<\/p>\n

Faithfully dressed in Issey Miyake<\/a> and jewellery of her own making, Galila met Artsy at the entrance to her P.O.C. (Passion Obsession Collection) building, south of the Belgian capital. With more than 600 works on view, the space\u2019s walls and floors are filled with a carefully choreographed arrangement of color, concrete, metal, fabric, and photography. <\/p>\n

Sitting across from one another with coffee and cake, Galila\u2019s nurturing warmth becomes quickly apparent as she describes her approach to art collecting. \u201cArt is something very abstract,\u201d she told Artsy. \u201cFor me, if there\u2019s quality, originality, and creativity\u2014and if I\u2019m touched\u2014then I will consider it. I don\u2019t agree that contemporary art shouldn\u2019t be beautiful, that it shouldn\u2019t have an aesthetic. We are aesthetic.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Lucas Sim\u00f5es, Abismo 94, 2018. Courtesy of Lucas Sim\u00f5es & Galila\u2019s Collection, Belgium. <\/p>\n

Philippe Luiz, Untitled (Cadeira de Pernas), 2017. Photo by Diego Ravier. Courtesy of Philippe Luiz & Galila\u2019s Collection, Belgium. <\/p>\n

Highlights of the collection on view at the P.O.C. include Sans titre (Cadeira de Pernas Cruzadas) (2017) by Luiz Philippe<\/a>, a series of cross-legged chairs made of wood and natural straw that are redolent of the humor that characterises much of Galila\u2019s collection. Another is Penny Bench (2015) by Dutch-Israeli designer and architect Rolf Bruggink, in which copper pennies are meticulously attached to a metal frame, cleverly mocking modern materials through the inventive use of pocket change. Lucas Sim\u00f5es<\/a>\u2019s art meets design sculpture Abismo 94 (2018), made of paper, wood, copper, steel, and concrete, carries a playfully futuristic yet foolish quality. Meanwhile, Eug\u00e9nio Merino<\/a>\u2019s Ballot Box (2016), crafted from silicone, human hair, envelopes, plexiglass, and iron, acts as a protest against the collapse of democracy, depicting Adolf Hitler\u2019s head filling the box and preventing any fictitious vote from taking place. In Bueiro (Manhole) (2015), the Brazilian artist Vanderlei Lopes<\/a> transforms polished bronze into something that appears to melt before your eyes, another testament to Galila\u2019s penchant for playfulness and of works that rattle the cage of conformity.<\/p>\n

Open to the public by appointment, the P.O.C. is a living, breathing, burping cabinet of curiosities. Like a modern-day salon, it is as much about Galila\u2019s embrace of difference as it is about the ideas of the artists she gathers together. Her intention with the space is to subvert the idea of a static, museum-like collection, instead reimagining it as a living organism. \u201cThe collection has become part of my basic needs and reflects who I am,\u201d Galila told Artsy. \u201cCollecting is like psychoanalysis, a self-portrait in a state of permanent construction. Each work I acquire is a new piece of a larger puzzle, gradually composing an image which, I hope, will one day give me a glimpse of my personal truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Interior view of Galila\u2019s P.O.C. \u00a9 Damon Debacker. Courtesy of Galila Barzila\u00ef. <\/p>\n

Walking through the works on view, what emerges is a collection that is as intimate and instinctive as the woman herself. \u201cIt\u2019s about passion. It\u2019s evident and embodied in my very being,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

This attitude feeds into the works that Galila opts to purchase. \u201cBuying art is my oxygen, my sustenance, it\u2019s uncontrollable,\u201d she said. \u201cI buy works that speak to me. Most of the time, I don\u2019t know the artist\u2019s name, age, origins, or reputation. I follow my instinct.\u201d Themes such as memory, identity, spirituality, and a gentle mockery of societal structures make for common threads, too.<\/p>\n

Her commitment to discovering and supporting emerging artists takes a similarly intuitive approach. The collection includes works by South African artist Chris Soal<\/a>, who constructs with toothpicks and bottle caps; Dutch sculptor Ram Katzir; the fabric-based pieces of French designer Marion Chopineau; British artist Jonathan Callan<\/a>, known for his hybrid materiality; and the kinetic sculptures and assemblages of French artist Alice Anderson<\/a>. Many were purchased before the artists gained wider recognition.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Interior view of Galila\u2019s P.O.C. \u00a9 Damon Debacker. Courtesy of Galila Barzila\u00ef. <\/p>\n

Despite its remarkable breadth, the collection retains its sense of humor and coherence. Galila describes her method as both random and rule-driven. This is exemplified at art fairs, where her ritual is to take a coin and head across the concourse depending on where it falls. \u201cThen I take the map and go from one booth to another, so I know that I\u2019ve seen everything,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

With her collection, Galilais is actively drawing connections through what she purchases and displays. \u201cI prefer to have this kind of dialogue with a piece of art\u2014it makes me understand things from a new point of view,\u201d she noted. IFor that reason, her advice for those beginning to purchase art is simple: don\u2019t overthink it. Let yourself be moved, trust your instincts, and remember\u2014at its most powerful, art is always personal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Market Rajesh Punj Interior view of Galila\u2019s P.O.C. \u00a9 Damon Debacker. Courtesy of Galila Barzila\u00ef. In a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,14272,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-19875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-collector-profiles","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}