Ophrah Shemesh

Ophrah Shemesh (December 9, 1952) is an Israeli-American artist, best known for her intense, existentially themed oil and tempera paintings of women and men.[1][2][3]

Ophrah Shemesh at opening of Boundless, 2017

Early life and career

Born in Haifa, Israel, to Albert Shemesh and Carmella-Daisy Levy. Albert was an important Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) activist in Iraq, before the creation of the state of Israel.[4] Shemesh studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design[5] in Jerusalem (1972-1976).

In 1973, Israeli filmmaker and director Amos Gitai[6] cast her in a short film, My Mother at the Seashore,[7] and later gave her a leading role in Golem, the Spirit of Exile[8] (1991), also starring Hanna Schygulla, Sam Fuller, and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Shemesh attended the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture from 1979-1983.[5] In 1986, she was one of a new group of teachers brought in by then dean, Bruce Gagnier,[9] and has been a member of the faculty since.[10] Shemesh has also taught and spoken in a variety of other programs and symposia, including the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts,[11] Kremer Pigments, the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture,[12] the Sicily Artist in Residence Program (SARP),[13] and the College de France.[14]

Shemesh’s work is in the permanent collection of Collezione Maramotti[15] and appears in Mario Diacono (2012), Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms, 1995-2007,[16] Ophrah Shemesh: Silence of the Sirens, 2008-2011,[17] and Max Tomasinelli (2011), Portraits of Artists.[18]

Solo exhibitions
Ophrah Shemesh and model by Max Tomasinelli for Portraits of Artists,[19] 2011
  • Harms & Twombly,[20][21] New York, NY, 2017
  • Freight & Volume,[22] New York, NY, 2008
  • Stephen Wirtz Gallery,[23] San Francisco, CA, 2003
  • Baumgartner Gallery,[2] New York, NY, 2002
  • Guy McIntyre Gallery,[24] New York, NY, 1997
  • Mario Diacono Gallery,[25] Boston, MA, 1995
  • Galleria S.A.L.E.S.,[26] Rome, Italy, 1995
  • Galleria Philippe Daverio,[27] Milan, Italy, 1982

Reviews
  • Tosi, Barbara, “Tanti Retratti di Divi Non Illustri,” La Repubblica, May 24, 1995
  • Coen, Vittoria, “Ophrah Shemesh at Galleria S.A.L.E.S.,” Flash Art, 1995
  • Sherman, Mary, “Ophrah Shemesh, Mario Diacono,” ARTnews, December 1995.
  • Ebony, David, “David Ebony’s Top Ten of 1997: Ophrah Shemesh at Guy McIntyre,” Artnet, December 23, 1997.
  • Gagnier, Bruce Mitchel, “Ophrah Shemesh at Guy McIntyre,” Art in America, September, 1998.
  • Goodman, Jonathan, “Ophrah Shemesh at Baumgartner,” Art in America, February, 2003.
  • Amy, Michaël J., “Ophrah Shemesh: Freight + Volume,” Art in America, November, 2008.
  • Cohen, David, “Deliciously Distressed,” New York Sun, March 13, 2008.

References
  1. Tosi, Barbara (May 24, 1995). "Tanti Retratti di Divi Non Illustri". La Repubblica.
  2. Goodman, Jonathan (February 2003). "Ophrah Shemesh at Baumgartner". Art in America.
  3. Cohen, David (March 13, 2008). "Deliciously Distressed". New York Sun.
  4. Meir-Glitzenstein, Esther (2004). Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s. Routledge. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0714655791.
  5. "New York Studio School biography". Archived from the original on 2010-12-09.
  6. Privett, Ray (2008). Amos Gitai: Exile and Atonement. Cinema Purgatorio LLC. p. 36. ISBN 0615223419.
  7. Gitai, Amos. "My Mother at the Seashore". Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  8. "Golem, the Spirit of Exile". imdb.com. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  9. Samet, Jennifer Sachs (February 17, 2005). "Many Styles, Drawn Together: The Studio School at 40". New York Sun.
  10. "The Continuous Mark: 40 Years of the New York Studio School".
  11. "Syracuse University College of Visual & Performing Arts".
  12. "The International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture".
  13. "Sicily Artist in Residence Program".
  14. "College de France".
  15. "Collezione Maramotti".
  16. Diacono, Mario (2012). Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms, 1995-2007. Silvana Editoriale. ISBN 8836623255. Archived from the original on 2015-05-30.
  17. Shemesh, Ophrah (2012). Silence of the Sirens, 2008-2011.
  18. Tomasinelli, Max. "Portraits of Artists".
  19. "Max Tomasinelli - Artist - Photographer". www.portraitsofartists.com.
  20. "OPHRAH SHEMESH Boundless Co-Curated by Loretta Harms & Caio Twombly June 1-20th". Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  21. "Ophrah Shemesh". www.ophrahshemesh.com. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  22. "Freight + Volume Gallery".
  23. "Stephen Wirtz Gallery".
  24. "Art Guide". New York Times. December 5, 1997.
  25. Diacono, Mario (1995). Ophrah Shemesh. Mario Diacono Gallery.
  26. Coen, Vittoria (1995). "Ophrah Shemesh S.A.L.E.S". Flash Art.
  27. Daverio, Philippe (1992). Ophrah. Galleria Philippe Daverio.
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