Yechiel Shemi (; 1922-2003) was an Israeli sculptor. His environmental sculptures are displayed in open spaces around the country.

Biography

Yechiel Stizberg (later Shemi), was born to Moshe and Esther Stizberg. When he was two months old the family

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to Mandate Palestine and settled in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. At the age of 14 he joined the Mahane Avoda youth movement and began to study art with Paul Henich. In 1938, he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Beit HaArava, located north of the Dead Sea. Alongside his agricultural work, Stizberg created landscape drawings and paintings, but then moved to sculpting. In 1942 he joined his friend

Yitzhak Danziger Yitzhak Danziger (; 26 June 1916 – 11 July 1977) was an Israeli sculptor. He was one of the pioneer sculptors of the Canaanite Movement, and later joined the " Ofakim Hadashim" (New Horizons) group. Early life Danziger was born in Be ...

's studio where he painted for 3 months. In 1945 he changed his last name to Shemi and joined the HeHalutz Movement as a courier, carrying out missions in Italy, France and Egypt. While on assignment in New York, he studied with Chaim Gross, who exposed him to modern art and art history. During the War of Independence, Kibbutz Bet Haarava was abandoned and all the artwork he left in the kibbutz was lost. Upon his return to Israel in 1949, he joined Kibbutz Kabri in the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

. In 1950-52, Shemi served as the kibbutz secretary. Influenced by Avigdor Stematsky and Joseph Zaritsky, he became a member of the New Horizons Group in 1952. In 1966 Shemi moved to Kibbutz Gadot for a half year.

Art career

In 1959-1961, Shemi studied art in Paris. In 1977-1979, he taught sculpting and lectured on environmental sculpture at Oranim Teachers College. He also taught at the Technion in Haifa and the

Ein Hod Ein Hod () is a village in Haifa District in northern Israel. Located at the foot of Mount Carmel and southeast of Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council and has the status of community settlement (Israel), comm ...

artist's colony. Shemi was a member of New Horizons group. In the mid-1950s Shemi's artwork changed drastically, one of the changes he made was changing his material for his sculptures from wood and stone to metal materials. His first metal bird sculpture was made in 1955. During the years 1955-1957 Shemi created a series of sculptures of abstract figures of animals and humans. A few of these sculptures were exhibited in the seventh exhibition of New Horizons that opened in 1957 at the

Independence Hall (Israel) Independence Hall, originally the Dizengoff House (), is a history museum and the site of the signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence. It is located on the historic Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was originally built as t ...

. Exhibiting some 30 sculptures by Shemi. During 1957-1956, Shemi created the sculpture group "Nest". In 1962 Shemi began to create expressive works from scrap metal. During the 1960s he showed his assemblage sculpture in solo exhibitions at Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels in 1964. Shemi had additional solo exhibitions at the

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 ...

in 1966 and at the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

in 1967. He also created two large public sculptures. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s Shemi changed his technique. Instead of using ready-made objects, he reduced his art to geometric shapes. In 1995 a retrospective exhibit was held at the Tefen Sculpture Garden. In 1981 Shemi was awarded 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 ...

from the Israel Museum. In 1986, the Israel Prize for sculpture, together with Batia Lishansky. In 1988 Adam Baruch published the book "Yehiel Shemi: Sculptures" and a solo exhibit was help in the Ramat Gan Museum of Art.

Awards and recognition

After a show in the United States in the 1960s, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

acquired his work. Shemi was the first Israeli artist to have his work purchased by the MoMa. Shemi won the Sandberg Prize in 1981 and 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 1986. In 1966 and 1997, the

mounted exhibitions of his work.Yechiel Shemi
/ref> In 1997 a retrospective exhibit of his works was held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art with a biographical catalog by Michael Sgan-Cohen. In 1998 the "Yehiel Shemi Papers" was published by the author Agassi, based on a series of conversations with Shemi. * 1954 Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo * 1966 Milo Club Prize * 1981 Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art, Israel Museum, Jerusalem * 1986 Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Sculpture * 2000 The Mendel and Eva Pundik Foundation Prize for an Israeli Artist, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv

Education

* 1937-38 Reali High School, Haifa * 1959-1961 advanced studies, Paris, France * 1941 Advanced studies in sculpture with Itzhak Danziger, Tel Aviv * 1940s Studied sculpture with Chaim Gross, New York

Teaching

* 1977-79 Oranim Art Institute, Tivon, sculpture and environmental sculpture * 1977-78 Art School, Ein Hod, sculpture * 1977-79 Technion, Haifa, Lecturer on environmental design

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shemi, Yechiel Israeli sculptors Israel Prize in sculpture recipients 1922 births 2003 deaths Academic staff of Oranim Academic College Sandberg Prize recipients 20th-century sculptors Canaanites (movement) Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli expatriates in France