OTHER FEATURED ARTISTS
Yaakov Kaszemacher of Safed creates Kab-balistic and geometric abstractions & con-structions, combining geometry with the universal wisdom of Torah, and explores the photographic docu-mentation of religious Haredi Jewish life and Torah." MORE
Eliyah Succot of Jerusalem was inspired by the beauty of the Galil & the holiness of Eretz Yisrael. At the end of the Yom Kippur War, his paintings became more & more charged with prayers for the final redemption - praying, dancing figures, the Torah, revelations of inner & outer light, the land & the sky of Israel, amidst bright pastel colors imbued with great hope and promise. Now, in Jerusalem he balances his time - nights and parts of his days immersed in Torah study in a Yeshiva minutes from the Holy Wall & each day carving out time to work on his paintings." MORE
Baruch Nachshon, one of the most important contemporary Jewish artists, studied art with Solomon Naroni, Paul Cezanne's only student, whom he still considers his "master", and from whom he learned "a holy approach to art." He became attracted to the vibrant world of Chassidism in his teens. Both the bittersweet music and the exalted mystical concepts of its Kabbalah- based philosophy burned deep into his searching soul.
Since 1967 Nachshon and his family have lived near Hebron, the ancient city set amidst the Judean hills and desert where King David composed most of his psalms and Adam and Eve are reputedly buried. Nachshon's studio is near the hallowed Cave of Machpelah.
His searing expressions of a man committed to his people's heritage and Israel's struggle to survive are rooted in a profoundly felt reality.
Nachshon's position as one of Israel's foremost artists was recognized when he received the Distinguished Artist's Award from Bar Ilan University in 1989. His paintings, ablaze with a visionary sensibility, have been exhibited around the globe, in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina, Australia, England and Hong Kong.
Nachshon's canvases express a yearning for fulfillment and redemption in the spirit of Judaism's ancient traditions. "The Jewish past has been well-represented in art," says Nachshon. "so has the present. But no one has represented the future--the Messianic Age." This is the task he has undertaken. His images, colors and shapes communicate a spiritual dimension: they are permeated with light and celebration.
Kabbalah is the various teachings dealing with Jewish mysticism, its prime source being the Sefer HaZohar, the Book of Splendor, based on the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochi, who lived in the First Century.
The common translation of the word Kabbalah is "receiving", implying that the teachings were originally and are still best transmitted from master to disciple. Another interesting meaning from the same Hebrew root word is to "find parallels" or analogues between the dimensions of space, time and soul.
Kabbalah and Art may seem to be contradictory, because of Judaism's long iconoclastic tradition, the only art tolerated being the artisanship of ritual objects, such as candelabra and spice boxes. However, the text of Zohar, is very stimulating visually, always enjoining the reader "to come and see" (as opposed to the Talmud, which states "it was heard") and can help the artist who studies it seriously to attain an expansive conciousness for creating inspired work.