Shy Abady
Shy Abady is an Israeli artist (born 24 September 1965 in Jerusalem). His work mostly consists of portraits and figures, for example such as Nijinsky, Hannah Arendt and Radu Klapper. His recent work deals with themes related to German and Jewish history ("My Other Germany", "Augusta Victoria"). Abady's work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Israel and abroad.
Shy Abady began studying painting at a young age at the studio of Ascher Rudnizcki. Later he participated in a drawing course at the "Bezalel Academy" taught by Yoram Rozov. In 1992 he graduated from the art college, "Hamidrasha". Between the years 2012-2014, Abady completed his master's degree in History of Arts at the Faculty of Arts, Tel Aviv University.
In 1995, presented Abady his first solo exhibition, "From Reality to Myth – Nijinsky," which followed the life and the image of the Russian dancer and choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky.
In 2000 Abady received a residency scholarship at "The Cité" in Paris. There he created the series, "Icon - The Golden Age," which applied Christian iconographic technique to Jewish–Israeli figures.
Abady exhibited his series the "Hannah Arendt Project" in 2005 at the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt and other places. In 2010, seven works from the series were presented at Beth Hatefutsoth museum in Tel Aviv in the exhibition, "Jewish Icons - Andy Warhol and Israeli artists". In 2006 Abady began working on "Radu," a series that concerns the late Israeli-Romanian poet and writer Radu Klapper.The series was presented in January 2012 in "Zadik Gallery" in Jaffa.
Between the years 2007- 2008, Abady lived in Berlin and created the series "My Other Germany", The artist tells his story of German and German-Jewish history and myth. The series casts eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German statues and monuments (mostly from Berlin) as an allegory of twentieth-century events. In 2014 five works from the series were presented in Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art in the exhibition "Back to Berlin".
In 2009, Abady exhibited "The Revolution that Danced," an homage to Nijinsky's and Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of their first performance in Paris, presented at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.
In 2010, Abady began to work on the series "Augusta Victoria," which continues his Berlin series with a local Israeli perspective. The series explores the dialogues between Theodor Herzl, the visionary of the Jewish state, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German Kaiser. The series was first presented in February 2012 in the "Dan Gallery" in Tel Aviv. In 2014 a portrait of the Kaiser Wilhelm II from the series, as well as two other portraits from the “Hannah Arendt Project”, were presented in the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest as part of an international group exhibition, “Turning Points”. The exhibition dealt with the reaction of various contemporary artists to major twentieth-century events like WW1 and WW2.
Solo exhibitions
1995 - From Reality to Myth Nijinsky, Beit-Ariela, Tel Aviv. 1998 - Caressing, Beit-Haam Gallery, Tel Aviv. 1998 - Anatomy of Myth, Jerusalem Theater. 1999 - For Your Feet Only, The Artists' Residence, Herzliya. 2005 - Hannah Arendt Project, Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main. 2006 - Hannah Arendt Project, Heinrich Boell Foundation Gallery, Bremen. 2006 - Hannah Arendt Project, Hannah Arendt Zentrum, Oldenburg. 2006 - Icon - The Golden Age, The Artists' House, Tel-Aviv. 2006 - Hannah Arendt Project, Jerusalem Artists' House. 2009 -The revolution that danced, Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. 2012 -Radu, Zadik Gallery, Jaffa. 2012 -Augusta Victoria, Dan Gallery, Tel-Aviv.
Selected group exhibitions
2001 - Traces, Biennale for contemporary drawing in Israel, Jerusalem Artists’ House. 2004 - Tel Aviv Profile, City Hall building, Tel Aviv. 2008 - Beware the aftereffects, Infernoesque, Berlin. 2009 - Groom and Bride, The Jaffa Museum. 2010 - Jewish Icons, Andy Warhol and Israeli artists, Beth Hatefutsoth museum, Tel Aviv. 2011 - Appropriated Place, Zadik Gallery, Jaffa. 2012 - On A Small Scale, Zadik Gallery, Jaffa. 2013 - Fans, Zadik Gallery, Jaffa. 2014 - Money, Zadik Gallery, Jaffa. 2014 - The Benevolent Tree, Umm el-Fahem art Gallery. 2014 - Back to Berlin, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. 2014 -“Turning Points”, “Hungarian National Gallery”, Budapest.
External links
- Shy Abady's homepage
- "Hanna Arendt Project" in the Jerusalem Artists House
- Exhibition in the Jewish museum of Frankfurt, 2005.
- "My Hannah Arendt Project" in Google Books.
- To Dance the Revolution, Roni Dori, "Haaretz", April 2009
- "Jewish Icons-Andy Warhol and Israeli artists" exhibition at Beth Hatefutsoth museum
- Midnight East, Andy Warhol and the Jews
- "Augusta Victoria" in Dan's Gallery homepage
- "Radu" in Zadik's Gallery homepage, (for English roll down)
- "Troubled Nostalgia", Text and works presentation in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design online Journal
- Text and a front cover in The Magazin,"yakinton" (German)
- Article about the series Augusta Victoria in Levantine – A Journal for Levantine Studies (Van Leer Jerusalem Institute)
- "Back to Berlin" group exhibition at the “Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art".
- The exhibition “Turning Points” in the homepage of the”Hungarian National Gallery” in Budapest. To the exhibition catalog
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