Three artists, three questions: Bridging before and after

• Published date: 21 April 2024
• Author: BASIA MONKA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Of course, the art world is not excluded from the war reality. Hostages Square, in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, speaks for itself

We have been witnessing the extensive response of art to the atrocities and the aftermath of Oct. 7, in both the content of the latest artistic output and the drive toward organizing charity art auctions. Some artists whose work is currently being exhibited have had to postpone their exhibition openings by many months, and some have donned uniforms and are serving the country.

When, in a July 2021 Magazine interview, Zadok Ben-David talked about drawing while being stuck in the Suez Canal as a young solder during the Yom Kippur War, I listened to his memories as if to a distant history. I certainly hadn't remotely expected that in 2024, I would be speaking to another artist about a war who, as a called-up reservist, would have similar experiences now.

Three artists, all born in Israel (separated by decades) whose art, among many newly opened shows, caught my attention, don't directly relate to the current situation. They simply continue to work, reminding us, the viewers, that we cannot forget what was important to us before the war. That there must be a "bridge" between before and now.

Three artists agreed to answer my three questions:

* What inspires you?

* What do you call art?

* What, in your opinion, distinguishes your artwork from that of other artists?

Uriel Miron

A multi-awarded artist and sculptor born in Tel Aviv, Uriel Miron grew up in the US and Israel, where he permanently moved at the beginning of the 1990s. Miron's works have been shown in many solo and group exhibitions in Israel and abroad, and they are in various collections, including those of the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. Miron has a broad education in art and literature (Yale University's Literature Department; Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; School of Visual Arts, New York) and is a professor of art at the Shenkar School of Multi-Disciplinary Art, and the Shenkar School of Design in Tel Aviv.

All of the above might not have happened if not for the artist's most crucial experience – a visit to the Natural History Museum in New York at the age of four. That experience, combined with exposure to the abstract art collected by his grandparents [grandmother Dvora Schocken owned a gallery], were the foundations for his future art.

Throughout his career, he has remained faithful to his...