Keren Shpilsher

Catalog # 32
Keren Shpilsher

"Snow Over My City"

2008, 2010
Estimated Value: $2000 each

About the Artist:

Born in Israel 1977. Lives in Ramat Hen and working in Tel Aviv.

Graduated from "Wizo-Frace" Tel Aviv High school art faculty.

2002 – Graduated from Vital College in Tel Aviv – Illustration department with citation from the Middlesex University in London.

An active artist exhibiting on a regular basis in Galleries and museums in Israel.

Performing as an art and comics teacher for children and adults, and lectures on different art schools.

Co-founder of "Saluna" group – an alternative group incorporating artistic projects with social and community activity.

Shares and contributes her art works and skill to all organization supporting different causes in Israel. Nowadays – working within "Gimnasya Hertzliya" High school in Tel Aviv.

Prizes and scholarships:

2002 – "Mifa'l Hapais" (the legal gambling company of Israel) scholarship for being a promising Plastic-art artist.

2005 – A recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship.

Itzik Badash

Catalog # 1 
Itzik Badash

From: "Diwani"

http://www.diwani.co.il/index.html

About the artwork:

Diwani is the first solo exhibition of Itzik Badash. In Arabic "Diwan" means both a "collection of songs" and a "salon for entertaining guests", two concepts that together comprise of the public space in which the artist's cultural-religious event takes place. In addition, the word also refers to anthologies of poems, odes and lamentations written by the Jewish poets of Spain

Itamar Jobani

Catalog # 16
Itamar Jobani

"Looking Towards the Horizon"

2010

Size: 13"1/2 x 10"1/4

etching print

Estimated value: $600

www.itamarjobani.com

About the Art work:

About the Artists:

Jobani graduated from Beit-Berl College in Israel, with a major in Fine Arts. Post-graduation, he was invited to join the faculty of Bei-Berl where he taught video art and new media. Jobani continued his education at Tel-Aviv University with a double major in philosophy and film studies. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honors, Jobani went on to study at Pratt Institute in New York, with a concentration in sculpture and new media. Jobani has enjoyed numerous exhibitions both in Israel and abroad, and received much acclaim for his solo show at the Herzeliya Biennale in 2007. He was subsequently awarded a solo exhibition at the prestigious VOLTA New York contemporary art fair in 2008. Other recent exhibitions include:  “Inspired” Glasgow, Scotland; “Martin-Gropius-Bau” Berlin, Germany; Three Rivers Arts Festival gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; White-Box Gallery, New Yorkand solo shows at Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York and Le Poisson Rouge Gallery, New York. Most recently Jobani was invited to be an artist - in-residence at  the open studio in the  Museum of Art and Design (MAD), New York. Jobani was born in Israel in 1980, and currently lives and works in New York.

Gefen Lamdan

Catalog # 18
Gefen Lamdan

"Private Public Parts"

2008-2010

18"x24" ea.

Digital Ink Print on Canvas

Estimated value: $1500
http://gefenlamdan.com/

About the artwork:

This piece is part of the print series "Public Private Parts" which observes private moments of people in public city spaces; "New York City is a sanctuary for human beings. Walking down its streets is always a fascinating experience of observing the moments that belong to others. By doing that I go out of my mind and into the holistic view on our specie. I feel there is a lot of compassion in that action.

About the artist:

Born in 1975 in Israel, Gefen Lamdan received her BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.  These days lives, works and is inspired by New York City. Her latest book: "Thoughts Induced by Chewing Ice", a collaboration with the author Yuval Sheer was recently published in New York.

Gadi Dagon

Catalog # 8
Gadi Dagon

"Hora" 1/5

2009

100x40 cm

Print
Estimated Value: $3000 

About the artist:

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1957, Gad lives and works in Israel. Freelance photographer for "Yediot Ahchronot" and "Ma'ariv". Home Photographer of "The Bat Sheva Company", "The Israeli Opera", "The Jerusalem Hann Theater", "Gesher Theater" and "Hertzelia Ensemble". Works regularly with "Suzanne Dalall Center","The Camery Theater", "Weitzman Institute of Science" and with leading advertising agencies in Israel: BBR Saatchi & Saatchi, Shalmor Avnon Amichai Y&R, McCann Kesher Bareel, Adler Chomsky & Warshavsky Grey.

Elinor Milchan

Catalog # 21
Elinor Milchan

"Hear My Mind" from the "Light Land" Series

2006

29"x29"

Photography printed on clear photography paper and face mounted onto plexiglass
http://elinorartworks.com/

About the artwork:

The Light Lands series is the expression of a passage beyond the surface of reality, an expression of movement and time that leads the mind to a boundless territory. In a liberated Nothing, in a borderless space, where surface is transcended, thought becomes movement, and “the true movement of being begins”. (Kazimir Malevich.) Captured in a studio setting, the LightLands series is a photographic body of work created with light, color gels and long exposures. Unique in its technique, captured and composed with strokes of light, the works convey the depth of time fleeting.

About the artist:

Elinor Milchan is a self-taught photography and video artist. She started taking pictures at the age of twelve, and was printing her own stills by the age of fourteen. Her work focuses primary on light and the subject of time, visually capturing its passage and the experience of what remains of it. Critics from The LACMA and Art in Art America have praised the inventiveness of her unique technique, describing it as “liberating the medium”, and opening “up the interstices of light”,reminding “us that the essential of photography is light itself.” * Milchan’s exhibitions and work have been featured and reviewed in various international art publications, and included in contemporary art auctions, such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Her work is included in many private and public collections, including the Tel Aviv Museum, and has received support for public art collaborations and installations by the likes of corporations such as MTV, JPMorgan/Chase, NewsCorp/20th Century Fox, Leaf, Bezalel, UBS, Credit Suisse, BCRE-US and Africa-Israel. Milchan’s series, the UrbanLands, was exhibited in early 2009, at the Tel Aviv Museum as part of a large photography group show entitled: Time Tel Aviv 2009 as well as in New York and Paris. Elinor Milchan is teaching at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. She is the cofounder of Artea Projects, and is currently co-curating public art projects for the city of New York. *©Copyright 2005, Daniel Belasco. All rights reserved

Avner Levinson

 Catalog # 20
Avner Levinson
 "The Journey"
Edition 3/7
2006

21.5"x14"

Plaster

www.avnerlevinson.com

About the artwork:
The Journey is a group of sculptures that examine the individual's path through life. Each work focuses on the same person-- and his nebulous burden-- from a variety of perspectives. The Journey questions how the weight of our experiences influence movement and progress.

About the artist:
In my work, I aim to deal with human dilemmas, to balance materialism with spirituality, and to tackle the complexity of human growth on all planes. I seek to investigate the gap between everyday life, with its methodical routines, and the personal desire to strive for more- to be more than the sum of our days’ activities, resumés and relationships with other human beings. I recognize that good and bad forces exist within each of us, and that this dichotomy, this dissonance and this struggle actually make us whole. While sculpting abstract forms with hints of figurative shapes, I am honing in on ideas and expressions, finding less ambiguity and more clarity as the works evolve. I begin most pieces with a vague notion and vision of what I want to build since I relish the process and its inherent transformative nature. I choose not to fully formulate my intention in the beginning. I believe that all of my works lend themselves to figurative interpretations, often reminding the viewer (and myself) of human beings, animals, landscapes, or other forms. The ambiguity, however, is deliberate.The surfaces and shapes in my sculptures were largely inspired by my upbringing in Jerusalem, which is nestled between lush green mountains and a typically arid desert. Those landscapes that I experienced in nature over time left a big impression on me. They inform my work. Much of my past work has been created with plaster and clay, but I now work primarily with a papier mache mix, which I developed for my particular needs, often on steel armatures. Papier mache allows me the freedom to cut, break and change the piece with ease while also working quickly. It has qualities of interest to me: it is very light, fluid, flexible, and frankly, more environmentally sound than many other materials. The added benefit of papier mache is that no tools are needed. Thus, I am able to be completely hands-on without the barrier of a tool. It feels more personal to me.

Aviv Naveh

Catalog # 22
Aviv Naveh

"Paratroopers"

2005

Edition 5 of 10
Estimated Value: $1500

About the Artist:
Aviv Naveh is a film and video cinematographer. He teaches Still Photography at the “Mor” High School in Ra’anana, Israel while working towards an MFA in Cinema at Tel Aviv University. This year, he won the Sotheby’s “Hammers Choice Prize” for ‘Sinai’ (2007) and received a grant form the Cinemateque for his short movie “370 Meters” which was shown on Israel’s Channel 8.

Aliza Olmert

Aliza Olmert
Catalog # 27
Courtesy of The Schwimmer Collection

About the Artist: Aliza Olmert is an Israeli artist, photographer, author and social worker. Aliza Olmert was born in a displaced persons camp in Eschwege, Germany. Her parents were Holocaust survivors from Łódź. She grew up in Ramat Gan and served as a topographer and platoon commander in the Israel Defense Forces.[She met her husband, Ehud Olmert, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she was studying social work. In 1985-1988, Olmert studied environmental design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. In Israel, Olmert has exhibited at the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem, the Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat Gan, the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv and the Tel Aviv Artists' House. Her work has also been exhibited in Japan, Uruguay, Italy, Britain, Poland, Argentina and New York. In March 2008, she was awarded the Steiger Prize in Germany.

Adi Lavy

Catalog # 19
Adi Lavy
"Once Upon A Sea"
2009
16 X 40 cm
Digital C-Print
Edition 1/10
http://www.adilavy.com/

About the artwork:
When I was young, I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents car, nose glued to the window, looking out at the big blue of the Dead Sea. Back then the sea almost reached the road, and it seemed that if I stretched out my hand, I could touch its salty waters. Today, driving down the same road, the water line receded many miles, replaced with barren land and sinkholes, sprinkled with many warning signs forbidding access to the sea. The Dead Sea is a no man’s land. Aside from a few safe beaches, most areas are restricted to access due to the danger of sinkholes. As a result of years of neglect by Israeli and Jordanian governments, the destruction is rapidly progressing and is evident everywhere. Environmentalists now claim that the Dead Sea is "dying" as the water that used to feed it is diverted for industry and agriculture. If things continue as they are, in less than 50 years, the Dead Sea as we know it will be gone for good. Once upon a sea is a contemporary portrait of the Dead Sea, documenting those who frequent it and it’s massive destruction, while admiring the new beauty of the land, revealed beneath the ruins.

About the Artist:
Adi Lavy is an internationally accomplished documentary photographer that has worked with world-renowned publications such as Newsweek, SZ Weissen and Le Repubblica. In April of 2008 Adi was chosen as a finalist at the prestigious Hyeres Photography festival in France. A Israeli native, Adi began her career as a reporter in Israel, and over the years shifted towards photography and filmmaking, attending Columbia University and the School of Visual Arts. In 2009 Adi won the prestigious ITVS Grant, funded by PBS, supporting her directorial debut, a documentary called “Sun Kissed” which is scheduled for broadcast in 2011.

Yosi's Story

"My name is Yosi, and I am a 19 year old soldier in the Givati unit. I am the fifth of nine children in my family, originally from Ethiopia.

At age 14, I was slowly drinking my life away with a group of delinquents in the public parks of Rechovot. I hated going to school, and home was too intense.

I remember one night on a bench, two guys joined us. They seemed like they were in their early 20s. They took out some snacks and shared them with us, and started talking.

They asked me about my life, and at first I laughed in their face, but as the night went on, and during the following weeks we saw them more and more. I found that if I had a question, or was annoyed at one of my brothers or at school, Shai, one of the guys listened, and worked with me on a solution.

I remember the night that Shai suggested that I enroll in a professional computer technician program operated by ELEM’s Migdalor Project. At first I was offended that he thought I was ‘at risk’ of wasting my life and that he would propose computers, which I thought was for nerds. I was embarrassed to share the idea with my friends and blew him off. But Shai was so persistent. He didn’t let it go, and I relented.

It’s funny, but that night changed my life. By going to the class I didn’t just earn a skill, I found that I was worth something. It wasn’t long before I became an instructor to the other kids that came in, and at 16 and a half, I had my certificate and started working for major high tech companies in the summers. After a series of rigorous boot camps, I was recruited for one of the IDF’s elite military units – Sayeret Matkal and ultimately decided to be a combat soldier in Givati.

It scares me to think what would have happened had I not met Shai and the other ELEM volunteers. I sometimes walk that park, now in my uniform, and look at the kids drinking and smoking, hoping that ELEM will be there for them too.

Migdalor, as its name alludes, was a real beacon for me.

Thank you ELEM.

Yossi"

The Migdalor (Beacon) In Rehovot:

The proceeds from the event will support the Migdalor (Beacon) Center in Rehovot.
The Center serves youth from a predominantly Ethiopian immigrant community.

Hundreds of children from that community take part in the rich after-school activities of the center.
Doing so helps them reach their full potential and avoid the path toward life on the streets, alcohol, drugs and crime.

At the Center the children engage in academic studies, community gardening, workshops about topics such as sexuality and substance abuse, athletics, music lessons, computer activities - and a lot of ART.