Ovadia Alkara
Born was born in the Druze village of Daliat-el-Carmel in Israel, he came to the artists‘ village of Ein Hod at the age of 17, where he studied stonemasonry with the sculptor Rudi Lehmann from 1955 to 1958. In Ein Hod he got to know modern art through his acquaintance with Israeli artists and their works. After his military service in the IDF, he worked in the Haifa Theater as a stage designer for plays and for a theater club in Tel Aviv. In 1962 Alkara moved to Paris and studied at the Ècole de Beaux Arts un- til 1964. At the same time he was an apprentice in the studio of the artist Yaacov Agam. In 1966 Alka- ra moved to New York and soon became part of the local art scene through his exhibitions. He was part of the back then newly emerged Pop Art direction in art and was a contemporary of Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist and other legendary Pop Art artists of that time. Alkara lived and wor- ked alternately in New York and Israel; since 2007 he commutes between Düsseldorf and Ein Hod. Alkara‘s works were first shown publicly in 1964 in Haifa. Sin- ce then he has exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. In 1983 he received the purchase price of the Graphic Art Triennial, Haifa Museum of Art, and in 1994 the price of the Ministry of Science and Art, Israel.
Ovadias compositions develop geometric tiling on the surface, which merges oriental ornamentation with the modular thinking of European modernism. At the same time, superimposed layers of paint connect the past with the present, creating multi-dimensionalcollages between abstraction and figuration, between depiction and comics. Ovadia Alkara‘s works are images of our fragmented modernist souls, fragments in search of wholeness, restless in motion, somewhere between tradition, vision and reaction.
Alkara‘s works do not moralize. No charge, no con- viction, no proselytizing. They are what they represent. In this respect, they are also concrete art and allow the viewer freedom of observation. Not only in the sense of the „disinterested pleasure“ of the ap- pearance, but also of the content. Ovadia Alkara‘s works are rightly represented in important international public and private collections, such as Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC [USA], Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [USA], Israel Museum, Jerusalem [IL], Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bo- chum [DE] and many more.
Creations
Lis Smith 2013 Acrylic on canvas 130 x 90 cm
Drawing in color 2013 Acrylic on canvas 155 x 120 cm
Cabarette 2013 Acrylic on canvas 47 x 64 cm
Times Square 2018 Acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm
Geometry 2013 Acrylic on textile and canvas 160 x 120 cm
Times Square 2018 Acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm
Dollar Bill 1992 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 36 cm
Architectural Plan #1 2002 Acrylic on paper 122 x 94 cm
Everything and anything 2007 Acrylic on canvas 56 x 80 cm
Exhibitions
Born in Daliyat al-Karmel, Israel
Lives and works in New York [USA], Ein Hod [IL] and Düsseldof [DE]
Education
1960 - 1962 Visual Arts Study, Ein Hod [IL]
1962 - 1965 Visual Arts Study at École des Beaux-Arts, Paris [FR]
Awards
1994 Minister of Science and Arts Prize [IL]
1987 Represented the Fine Arts and lightning the torch on the Day of Independence, Mount Herzle, Jerusalem [IL] 1983 Acquisition Prize, Triennale of Graphic Art, Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL]
Collections
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC [USA]
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [USA] Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul, Minnesota [USA] Israel Museum, Jerusalem [IL]
Foundation STOA 169, Pölling [DE]
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL] Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum [DE]
Municipality of Düsseldorf [DE]
Ministry of Education and Culture [IL]
Bank of Dallas, Dallas, Tecas [USA]
American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [USA] Tapestry for Presidents Residency, Jerusalem [IL]
Richfield Petrolium, Houston [USA]
Tapestry for Movie Lab, Henry Jaffe, New York [USA]
Israel Discount Bank, New York [USA]
Solo Shows [selected]
2021
Daliat El Carmel, Bruno Art Group, Tel Aviv, Israel ARTRONAUT space for art, Mülheim an der Ruhr [DE]
2017
Gallery Ein Hod, Ein Hod [IL]
2016 Uhrenturm, Düsseldorf [DE]
2012
Sissmann Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
2009
Rita Krauss Meridian Gallery, New York [USA]
2006
Felix Ringel, Düsseldorf [DE]
1999-2000
Henseleit Gallery, Dortmund [DE]
1998-1999
Ball House, Düsseldorf [DE]
1996-1999
Circilation Exhibition, Ministary of Education and Culture [IL] 1996
Stealli Galerie, Cologone [DE]
1995
Yad Labamim Museum, Raanana [IL]
1994
Yad Labamim Museum, Petach Tikva [IL]
Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz Hazorea [IL]
1993
Herzlyia Museum [IL]
Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
1991
The Lobby Gallery, New York [USA]
1990
Yad Labanim Gallery, Tivon [IL]
1989
Roland Angst Gallery, Munich [DE]
1988
Gallery Edition A, Munich [DE]
1986
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL]
1983
Gallery Edition A, Munich [DE]
1982
Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
1979
Wilfrid Israel Museum, Kibbutz Hazorea [IL]
1978
Engel Gallery, Jerusalem [IL]
Ray Landis Gallery, New Jersey [IL]
1975
Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
1974
Goldman Gallery, Haifa [IL]
1972
Old Jaffa Gallery, Jaffa [IL]
1971
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL]
1970
Caravan Gallery, New York [USA]
1968
The American-Israel Cultural Foundation, New York [USA] 1966
Sheskin Gallery, New York [USA]
Israel Gallery, New York [USA]
Group exhibitions [selected]
2021
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL] 2018
Egel Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
Ball House, Düsseldorf [DE]
2017
Egel Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
2016
Egel Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
2006
Okashi Museum, Akko [IL]
1999
Grosse Kunst Ausstellung, NRW, Düsseldorf [DE]
1998
The 1970s in Israel Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv [IL] Grosse Kunst Ausstellung, NRW, Düsseldorf [DE]
1997
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv [IL]
Bat Yam Museum of Art, Bat Yam [IL]
Arad Museum, Arad [IL]
Bar’am Museum, Kibbutz Bar’am [IL]
1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem [IL]
1990
Mabat Gallery, Tel Aviv [IL]
1988
Haifa A Portrait of a City, Haifa [IL]
1987
Grosse Kunst Ausstellung, NRW, Düsseldorf [DE]
1983
Triennale of Israel Graphic Art, Haifa Museum, Haifa [IL] 1980
New York Art Expo, New York [USA]
1979
Israel Museum, Jerusalem [IL]
1978
Galerie de Bourg, Lausanne [CH]
Prince Arthur Gallery, Toronto [CAN]
Pace University, New York [USA]
Wash Art, Washington DC [USA]
1977
Palm Spring Desert Museum, California [USA]
1976
The Jewish Museum, New York [USA]
1974
Thilla Waldinger Gallery, New York [USA]
1973
Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum [DE]
Art Fair, Düsseldorf [DE]
Associated American Artists, New York [USA]
State Museum of New Jersey, New Jersey [USA]
Museum of St. Paul, Minnesota [USA]
National Gallery, Ottawa [CAN]
1972
Art Fair, Zurich [CH]
1971-1972
Circulation Exhibition, Art Gallery of Ontario [CAN]
1971
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL]
1969
Young Artists Around the World, Union Carbide Building, New York [USA] 1967
Migdal David Exhibition, Jerusalem [IL]
Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv [IL]
Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa [IL]