Zigi Ben-Haim (; born 1945 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an American-Israeli

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and sculptor who lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Biography

Zigi Ben-Haim was born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, to an Iraqi Jewish family in 1945. When he was four, his family had to leave their home amid increasing danger for Jews in the country and flee to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. After about one year in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, the family immigrated to the newly established state of

, where Ben-Haim grew up. After completing school and serving in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

for three years, he studied at the

Avni Institute of Art and Design Avni Institute of Art and Design is an Israeli art school located in Tel Aviv. History The Studia school (later Avni Institute) was established in 1936De La Fuente S:Black and white in color" '' The Jerusalem Post'' 30 May 2007. Accessed 2008-11- ...

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 ...

on a scholarship. With the Israeli economy in recession and not having financially well-off parents to depend on, Ben-Haim found it difficult to establish himself as an artist in Israel and decided to move abroad after receiving another scholarship. He applied to and was accepted at Goldsmiths art school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, but captivated by the news from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

about anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

protests, human rights demonstrations,

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

s, and a thriving art world, decided at the last minute to move there instead.How I got here: being a Jew in Baghdad wasn't safe any more
/ref> Drawn by the hippie culture of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Ben-Haim decided to move to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, settling in Berkeley. He studied at

California College of the Arts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened a second campus in ...

and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

, graduating with a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in 1974, and supported himself by working as a handyman, giving art classes, and taking a job at a warehouse in which he lived alongside other artists and musicians. He then began exhibiting his art and saving money in a safe deposit in a bank in Israel and considered whether to return to Israel or stay in the US. After his money in Israel was stolen in a bank robbery, he decided to stay in the US. He moved to

in 1975 and became a US citizen in 1979. The following year, he married Tsipi, a graduate student at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and they have a son, Yori.

Current Projects

Why Flowers?

"CoronaTime has accentuated our existence between life and death. One object represents both ends. Whether we’re going through bad times or good times we receive-Flowers!"

Past projects

On August 9, 2017, Ben-Haim unveiled his sculpture, Treasure the Green, in SoHo on Broadway. The project was sponsored by the SoHo Broadway Initiative and the New York Department of Transportation's Art Program. The sculpture is considered to be the first sculpture to receive permission to be installed on a bus bulb on Broadway. The sculpture was made to "emphasize the importance of nature in our lives," and stands as a reminder of "the importance of reconnecting with the pure nature of the green." The sculpture uses the symbol of the leaf, which has been a major icon of Ben-Haim's work for the past 30 years. It symbolizes nature and it is a metaphoric way of emphasizing nature and the surrounding environment.

Education

1972-74 M.F.A., San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA. 1972-73 M.A., J.F.K. University, Orinda, California, USA. 1971 California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, California, USA. 1966-70 The Avni Institute of Fine Arts, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Selected public collections

* Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece * Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC *Israel Air Force Center Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel *

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, Houston, Texas * Bank Leumi USA, Fifth Avenue, New York, NY *Pfizer Company Collection, New York, NY * Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA * Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY * Haifa Museum, Haifa, Israel * Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY * New School, New York, NY *

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, College Park, Maryland. *

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 ...

, Jerusalem, Israel. *

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, Brooklyn, NY * Malmö Museum, Malmö, Sweden. *

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

, New York, NY * Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel. * Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. * National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. *Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, Hempstead, NY *Buscaglia-Castellanni, University Museum, Lewiston, NY *Dan Eilat Hotel, Israel. * International Paper Company, New York, NY *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, Washington D.C. *Davis Polk & Wordwell, New York, NY * Westminster Bank, New York, NY *Israel Embassy, Washington D.C. *Frederick R. Weisman, Los Angeles, CA. *Rikers Hill Sculpture Park, Livingston, NJ * Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY *

Allen Memorial Art Museum The Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) is an art museum located in Oberlin, Ohio, and it is run by Oberlin College. Founded in 1917, the collection contains over 15,000 works of art. Overview The AMAM is primarily a teaching museum and is aimed at ...

, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio

References

External links

Zigi Ben-Haim's website

Grant recipient profile
at the

America-Israel Cultural Foundation The America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) is a non-profit American foundation that supports cultural projects in Israel. History The America-Israel Cultural Foundation was established in 1939 to support the growth and development of a Jewish ...

Galerie Rother Winter

Stux Gallery

Chelouche Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Haim, Zigi 1945 births American people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Iraqi Jews 20th-century Iraqi painters 21st-century Iraqi painters 20th-century Iraqi sculptors 21st-century Iraqi sculptors Israeli male painters Jewish Israeli painters Jewish American artists Living people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American painters 20th-century Israeli painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century Israeli painters 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors 20th-century Israeli sculptors 21st-century Israeli sculptors