Micha Ullman (; born 11 October 1939) is an Israeli sculptor and professor of art.

Biography

Ullman was born in

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 ...

to German Jews who immigrated to

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

in 1933.Michal Lando
''Art that hints at big questions,''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

. April 22, 2009 As a teenager, he attended the Kfar HaYarok agricultural school.The Accidental Sculptor

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

In 1960-1964, he studied at Bezalel Academy of Art 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 1965, he attended the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...

in London, where he learned

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

. Ullman is married to Mira, and lives in

Ramat Hasharon Ramat HaSharon (, ) is an affluent city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon region, bordering the cities of Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon, Hod-HaSharon to the east, and Herzliya and kibbutz ...

, Israel.

Academic career

He taught at Bezalel Academy in 1970 - 1978. He became a visiting professor at Academy of Arts Düsseldorf in 1976. He taught at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

from 1979 - 1989. He was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart from 1991 to 2005.

Artistic career

Ullman created the underground “Empty Library” memorial on

Bebelplatz The Bebelplatz (formerly and colloquially the Opernplatz) is a public square in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Following World War II, the square was renamed after August Bebel, a founder of the So ...

square in Berlin, where the

Nazi book burnings The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (, ''DSt'') to ceremonially Book burning, burn books in Nazi Germany and First Austrian Republic, Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed ...

began in 1933. The memorial consists of a window on the surface of the plaza, under which vacant bookshelves are lit and visible. A bronze plaque bears a quote by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

: “Where books are burned in the end people will burn.” This memorial was inaugurated in May 1995. (see

book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politic ...

). Ullman explains: "It begins with the void that exists in every pit and will not disappear. You could say that emptiness is a state, a situation formed by the sides of the pit: The deeper it is, the more sky there will be and the greater the void. In the library containing the missing books, that void is more palpable. We expect he booksbut they are not there." In 1997, Ullman completed a synagogue memorial in collaboration with Zvi Hecker and Eyal Weizmann, commemorating the former Lindenstraße synagogue in

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

. Another of his creations is "Hochwasser" ("Flooding") on a small island near the Werra River in Germany. It was inspired by a boat Ullman saw there with a sign on it stating it had a capacity of up to seven passengers. Ullman's father, Yitzhak, who had lived nearby, immigrated to Palestine with his seven siblings in 1933. Ullman is represented in the art collection of the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart with the representative fourpart work ″Du″, created in 1992 and shown at Documenta 9, which was given to the Academy as a permanent loan in 1993 by the Ministry of Science and Art Baden-Württemberg at the suggestion of the former Rector and head of the collection, Wolfgang Kermer.

Sculptural style

Ullman creates subterranean sculptures, some of which barely protrude from the ground. They touch on universal themes such as the meaning of place and home, absence and emptiness. They have been described as simultaneously "celestial and earthbound, metaphysical but sensual and tactile.

Gallery

File:Marl Ullmann 01.JPG, Ground, 1987

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

, Germany File:Micha Ullman.JPG,

Havdalah Havdalah (, ) is a Judaism, Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine, and smelling sweet spices (). Shab ...

, 1988
iron and gravel
Tefen Open Museum, Israel File:A Chair ullman.JPG, A Chair, 1989
stone

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, Israel File:Yesod 1989.jpg,

Yesod Yesod (Hebrew: יְסוֹד ''Yəsōḏ'', Tiberian: ''Yăsōḏ'', "foundation") is a sephirah or node in the kabbalistic Tree of Life, a system of Jewish philosophy. Yesod, located near the base of the Tree, is the sephirah below Hod and ...

, 1989
concrete and sand
Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel File:B94 0743~Micha Ullmann-Midnight.jpg, Day, Havdalah, Midnight, 1993
Steel plates and sand
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Collection File:Buecherverbrennung Denkmal Bebelplatz Berlin.jpg, " The Empty Library" - a Memorial for the Nazi book burning, 1995

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany File:Lola Beer Ebner Sculpture Garden 018.jpg, Window, 1999
Concrete, iron and glass

Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...

File:Pillar by Micha Ullman.JPG, Pillar, 1995
Iron File:Equinox 001.jpg, Equinox, 2005-9
Concrete and glass
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Collection

Education

* 1960-1964

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...

Academy,

* 1965 Central School of Arts and Crafts, London

Teaching

* 1970-1978

, drawing, basic design and etching * 1976 Guest lecturer at Fine Arts Academy, Düsseldorf * 1979 Haifa University, basic design, drawing, three-dimensional design * 1979-1985 Faculty of Architecture, Technion, Haifa * 1991–2005 State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, sculpture

Awards

Ullman was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for sculpture in April 2009.

Awards and Prizes

* 1963 Sonborn Prize,

Academy of Arts & Design,

* 1972 The Beatrice S. Kolliner Award for a Young Israeli Artist, Israel Museum,

, Israel * 1980 The

Sandberg Prize The Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art refers to a prize for art and design awarded at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, with a particular focus on Israeli art. The prize was inaugurated in 1968 with funds from an anonymous New York City, New York–based ...

for Israeli Art, Israel Museum,

, Israel * 1985 Mendel Pundik Prize,

Museum * 1989 Annual Scholarship, DAAD, Berlin * 1995 Käthe Kollwitz Prize,

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

* 1996 Zussman Prize, Yad Vashem * 1996 Member of the

* 1997 - פרס החברה לתרבות ולשלום בינלאומי, עמאן, ירדן. * 1998 Janet and George Jarin Prize, America Israel Cultural Foundation * 2000 Gamzu Prize and Aftovitzer Fund,

Museum of Art,

* 2004 Awarded Honorary Ph.D, The Hebrew University,

* 2005 Hans-Thoma-Preis, Staatspreis des Landes Baden - Wurttemberg, Germany * 2009 Israel Prize for Sculpture * 2010 Gerhard- Altenbourg-Preis, Lindenau Museum Altenburg * 2011 Moses-Mendelssohn-Preis des Landes Berlin, Germany

Outdoor and Public Art

* 1983 Sky, limestone, Tel Hai, Israel * 1984 Ben Hinnom Valley, iron and cable,

* 1984 Lot's Wife, earth, Mt. Sodom, Israel * 1989 Jesod (Foundation), cement and sand, Rothschild Boulevard,

* 1991 Schodnia (East), asphalt, Lodz, Poland * 1992 Sea Level, cast iron, sandstone and glass, 22 Allenby St., Tel Aviv * 1992 Niemand, corten steel and red loam,

Gropius Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed building, listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Nieder ...

, Germany * 1995 The Empty Library, cement and glass, Bebelplatz, Berlin, Germany * 1996-1997 Water, Zion Square, West Jerusalem and Freres Street, East Jerusalem

References

External links

* * *
Official site of Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullman, Micha Israeli sculptors Jewish Israeli sculptors Israel Prize in sculpture recipients Academic staff of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni Israeli Jews Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Artists from Tel Aviv Academics from Tel Aviv Sandberg Prize recipients Academic staff of State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart 1939 births Living people