Adi Nes (; born 1966) is an Israeli
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs.
Duties and types of photograp ...
. He has had solo exhibitions at
Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio
and the
Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
Life and career
Adi Nes was born in
Kiryat Gat. His parents are
Jewish immigrants from Iran.
[ He is openly gay. Nes studied photography at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in ]Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
in 1989 to 1992.
Nes' series "Soldiers" mixes masculinity and homoerotic sexuality, depicting Israeli soldiers in a fragile way.
Nes' " The Last Supper" recalls Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
's '' The Last Supper'', replacing the characters with young male Israeli soldiers. A print sold at auction in Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
for $102,000 in 2005, and another for $264,000 in 2007.
Nes' early work has been characterized as subverting the stereotype of the masculine Israeli man by using homoeroticism
Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...
and sleeping, vulnerable figures. He regularly uses dark-skinned Israeli models. The models' poses often evoke the Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
period. Nes has said that the inspiration for his photography is partially autobiographical:
Nes lives and works in a small town at the north of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, he and his partner have four surrogate children.
Solo exhibitions
*''Between Promise and Possibility: The Photographs of Adi Nes'', Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 2004
Awards and prizes
* 1993: Ministry of Education Council for Prize for Completion of Work, Ministry of Culture and Education
* 1999: The Minister of Education, Culture and Sport Prize, The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
* 2000: Nathan Gottesdiener Foundation, The Israeli Art Prize, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
* 2003: The Constantiner Photographer Award for an Israeli Artist, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
* 2005: Chosen as an outstanding artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation.
* 2013: Culture & Sport Minister's Prize for Artists in the Visual Arts
Gallery
File:Adi Ness, Untitled.jpg , Untitled, from series "Soldiers", 90 x 90 / 140 x 140 cm., 1995.
File:Adi ness 001.jpg , Untitled, from series "Soldiers", 90 x 90 / 140 x 140 cm., 1998.
File:Adi Ness, Last Supper.jpg , Untitled ( The Last Supper), from series "Soldiers", 90 x 148 / 185 x 235, 1999.
File:Adi Nes from Boys Series 003.jpg , Untitled, from series "Boys", 100 x 100 / 140 x 140 cm., 2000.
File:Adi Nes from Boys Series 001.jpg , Untitled, from series "Boys", 100 x 100 / 140 x 140 cm., 2000.
File:Adi Nes from Boys Series 004.jpg , Untitled ( Narcissus), from series "Boys", 100 x 100 / 140 x 140 cm., 2000.
File:Adi Nes from Prisoners Series 001.jpg , Untitled, from series "Prisoners", 60 x 82 / 90 x 123 cm., 2003.
File:Adi Nes 006.jpg , Untitled (Abraham
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
and Isaac
Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
), from series "Biblical Stories", 100 x 100 / 140 x 140 cm., 2004.
File:Adi Nes 005.jpg , Untitled ( Joseph), from series "Biblical Stories", 100 x 100 / 140 x 140 cm., 2004.
References
General references
*Gal, Nissim1. 2010. "The Language of the Poor: Bible Stories as a Critical Narrative of the Present." Images: Journal of Jewish Art & Visual Culture 4, no. 1: 82-108. Art & Architecture Source, March 27, 2017.
External links
Adi Nes - Artist page
at the Sommer Contemporary Artbr>Gallery Website
Nes' Vogue Hommes (Prisoners) series
* ttp://adines.com/content/NesBrochure.pdf Monographfrom Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
An Interview with Adi Nes by Jess T. Dugan, Big Red & Shiny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nes, Adi
Israeli photographers
Gay photographers
Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent
Gay Jews
Israeli gay artists
Israeli LGBTQ photographers
Living people
1966 births
People from Kiryat Gat
Israeli Mizrahi Jews
21st-century Israeli LGBTQ people
Military art