View source for Noam Omer

{{Short description|Israeli artist}}
[[File:Noam Omer.webp|right|200px|thumb|Noam Omer]]
'''Noam Omer''' ({{langx|he|נועם עומר}}; born 1982) is an Israeli artist.<ref>
[https://museum.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Omer,%20Noam&list=O Noam Omer]. [[Information Center for Israeli Art]], The [[Israel Museum]], Jerusalem.
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==Biography==
Noam Omer was born in [[Jerusalem]] and raised in [[Hod HaSharon]]. His father, Haim Omer, is a professor of psychology at the [[Tel Aviv University]]; His mother, Rina, is a doctor of psychology.<ref>
Shapira, Yaniv (October 28, 2011). ‘Nefesh: thoughts following Noam Omer’s exhibition "Lucian and I". Kayma Gallery, Jaffa.
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Noam is the fourth child of five,<ref>
Florentin Daniel (February 14, 2017).
[https://www.news1.co.il/Archive/0024-D-118150-00.html A candid conversation with the psychologist Haim Omer]. [[News1]].
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one of his brothers is the writer [[Mike Omer]].<ref>
[https://www.haimomer-nvr.com/ Haim Omer's site]
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Omer found his way to art through a personal crisis he experienced. Despite studying diligently throughout high school for his [[Matriculation examination]], he received mediocre grades. As a result, he entered an intense mental health crisis and was unable to function for two years. As part of his rehabilitation process, he studied [[video editing]] under the [[animation]] artist Shalom Harari. He began creating video clips, combining [[Visual arts|visual art]] with music using a computer. He also began painting portraits, and discovered his affinity for painting. During this period, he came to know Etti Katz, an expert of [[Learning disability|learning disabilities]], who discovered his talent and directed him towards an artistic path. She acted as his greatest supporter and his [[Mentorship|mentor]] through his artistic journey for a few years. He enrolled in the [[HaMidrasha – Faculty of the Arts]] where he met the director, [[Yair Garbuz]], who tailored a personal plan to him and supported him through the course of his studies. The teachers who influenced him most were Eti Jacobi, [[Miriam Gamburd]], Marilou Levin, Yudith Levin, Naomi Siman Tov, Nurit David and Doron Rabina. Over the course of his four years at the college, he presented eleven exhibitions, seven of which were solo exhibitions. In 2007, he graduated from Hamidrasha with honors.<ref>
(2008). [https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL_ALEPH997008880773905171/NLI Creation  of "The World"]: based on a number of talks between Haim Omer, Noam Omer and Yaniv Shapira. In: Omer, Noam. The World. Ha'Kibbutz gallery.
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Omer, Haim. [https://www.noamomer.com/about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: Noam's way into art and my way to becoming his shieldbearer]. Published also in: (May 2014) "Outsider Art Fair" New York. And in: (2013) Rivka Sneh, Yael Gross-Englender, Tamar Mor-Sella  (Editors). ''Limitless Parenting''. Miskal – [[Yedioth Ahronoth]] Books and Chemed Books.
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In 2017 Omer won the [[Ministry of Culture and Sport (Israel)|Ministry of Culture and Sport]]'s young artist award prize.<ref>
(December 26, 2017). [https://www.gov.il/he/departments/news/plastic_art_award_winners Ministry of Culture and Sport announce the visual arts prize winners]. [[Ministry of Culture and Sport (Israel)]].
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Between his graduation and October 2021, Noam Omer presented 16 solo exhibitions, including at the [[Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art]], at the [[Jerusalem Artists House]], the Tel Aviv Artists House, at the center for art in Kolvenburg, Germany, and at Ha'Kibbutz gallery.
==Art career==
Ouzi Zur wrote in the newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'': "Every time I stand in front of the works of Noam Omer I am shaken. These paintings are a battlefield between expression and plasticity. When one gazes into them, one feels that their creator is a person without skin, totally exposed to life and to art, as are the works. An [[anatomy]] of body and soul, peeled of their protective membrane and continuing to exist in an extreme constant. So must the observer also peel their own protective [[membrane]] and surrender to the work. And it would seem as though the term [[Sisyphean]] was meant for Omer and his work."<ref>
Tzur, Ouzi (July 15, 2019).
[https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/closeoneeye/.premium-1.7527552 A Person Without Skin]. [[Haaretz]].
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In 2008 Omer's first solo exhibition was presented outside the walls of Hamidrasha: "The World" at the Ha'Kibbutz gallery. It was composed of three different groups of paintings: Forty using charcoal paints, forty using [[acrylic paint]]s and forty using a combination of the two. The first two groups deal mainly with two subjects: The first with competitive sports and the second with the world of fishing. The sports paintings depict athletes kneeling under the burden of their effort and being carried by their friends or coaches; The fishing paintings depict fishermen carrying their large catch in satisfaction. In the third group of paintings, black figures of [[myth]]ological monsters and animals are seen over a colorful background.<ref>
Rosenbaum, Hemdah (July 2008). Noam Omer presents powerful and enigmatic paintings at the Kibbutz Gallery. [[Ha'ir|Ahbar Ha-Ir]].
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Tzur, Ouzi (July 10, 2008).
[https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/1.1336554 Masculine, feminine and something in between]
Haaretz.
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Ami-Ad, Karni (July 2008). The World According to Noam. The Kibbutz.
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In 2011 Omer presented the exhibition "Traces" at the Art and Culture Centre Kolvenburg, [[Billerbeck]], Germany. The exhibition recounts the stories of two families: one German and one Jewish, as they experienced and survived [[World War II]] from two different sides. The meeting point between them came through the friendship of two of their sons: Haim Omer and Arist von Schlippe. "Pietá", the central work of the exhibition, depicts the rescue of two members of the families: Jechiel Kuperman, Noam's great uncle, who was imprisoned at the [[Skarżysko-Kamienna#German occupation of Skarżysko-Kamienna (1939-1945)|Skarżysko concentration camp]] in Poland and was spared from death by his division's Jewish [[Kapo]], and Gunnar von Schlippe, Arist von Schlippe's father, a [[Wehrmacht]] soldier who was saved by a Polish farmer. In a series of paintings, Omer depicts his father in various situations. The series "Grandma Sonia's Via Dolorosa" shows different points in the life of his father's mother, to whom the name is owed, and the anguish she experienced throughout.<ref>
Omer, Noam (March 27 – May 2, 2011). [https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A88935463-eb1a-4e5a-b407-13a224b7416b#pageNum=6 Spuren – Ein Welt im Verschwinden]. Kolvenburg, Billerbeck.
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In 2012 he presented the exhibition "Sidelooker". In the [[exhibition catalogue]], [[curator]] Yaniv Shapira points out that the expression "sidelooker" refers to the perspective of the artist towards his environment, the way he perceives and is perceived by it. This is demonstrated in the works "The Clown", "The Lunatic" and "The Drunkard" which like the artist, hold a mirror up to society and represent the ‘other’ and the ‘different’, similar to Omer himself. One can also see the figure of the ‘observer’ present in them, such as in the large painting ‘The Cave’, in the center of which is a naked person, surrounded by multiple figures: one dreams about him, one sings about him, one looks at him and one stares into the space around him. This is a [[metaphor]] for encounters between people who remain strangers to one another.<ref>
Shapira, Yaniv (2012). Noam Omer: "Sidelooker" – A portrait of the artist as a foreigner.
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In 2014 the exhibition "Under the Pillow" was presented at the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art. The image "Under the Pillow" depicts Omer's experience of his existence as being atop of a thin membrane under which lie caves and ruins.<ref>
Nofa, Menucha (January 15, 2015).
[https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/art/1.3414202 Young portrait: the sketches of Noam Omer]. Ahbar Ha-Ir.
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Hashachar Cohen, Ayelet (2014). Under the Pillow catalogue. the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art.
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In 2017 the exhibition "The Construction of Man" was presented at the Tel Aviv Artists House. The works depict the façade of a building contrasted with a human being. The figures confront structures from different periods in architectural history. The works do not make use of perspective, but are flattened, creating a sense of disorientation.<ref>
(June 5, 2017).
[https://www.prtfl.co.il/archives/91947 Noam Omer at the Tel Aviv Artists House]. Portfolio.
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The exhibition "Glittering Pain" presented aluminum prints of the Arab cities of [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Mosul]] and [[Aleppo]] after they were bombed. The images are ones of suffering and destruction, but are cast in a bright and shining form, to emphasize the contrast of the images seen on the television from a living room couch or café, where one views scenes of atrocities in comfort.<ref>
Omer, Haim (2018). Glittering Pain catalogue. Tova Osman art gallery.
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The exhibition "The Artist and The Muse", which was presented at Artspace Tel-Aviv in 2019, featured large paintings in [[Monochrome|monochrome colors]], black, grey and white in dense and obsessive brush strokes, creating a dynamism which takes over the cloth. The works are crowded with mysterious symbolism, moving between the tragic and the [[grotesque]], and between the absurd and the logical. Mythological heroes make common appearances in his work. The figures and the background seem to feed off of each other and trade roles. The figures exist in a space between the past and the present, between reality and fantasy. Omer draws on numerous cultural sources in his work; From the world of art: [[Lucian Freud]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Vincent van Gogh]], [[William Blake]], [[Edvard Munch]]; From the works of [[William Shakespeare]]: [[Hamlet]], [[King Lear]], [[Falstaff]] and [[Macbeth]].<ref>
Semel, Galit (2019). The Artist and The Muse catalogue. Artspace Tel-Aviv.
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In the exhibition "Downtown" Omer presents the city center from two perspectives: on the one hand, a source of [[Consumerism|consumerist]] attraction, to which people flock, and on the other hand as a frightening and repulsive place, evoking a longing for the [[suburb]]s, which represent a quiet and comfortable life. Omer paints the city as a place inhabited by miserable, lonely people, trapped in a maze of buildings, contrasted with the suburbs, which are a place of unreal [[nostalgia]].<ref>
Semel, Galit (2019). Downtown  Artist House  Kfar Saba catalogue.
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In the exhibition "Nephilim" which was presented at the Jerusalem Artists House, Omer paints a world in constant battle and storm, populated by [[Nephilim]]: giant people, but also [[skyscraper]]s which embody the monsters of the modern day. The Nephilim have an absurd and grotesque side, which is in contrast with their heroic proportions. The figures blend into the background and are almost absorbed by it. Omer creates his own interpretation of characters from cultural and artistic history: In "Father-Moses", his father sits in a pose mirroring that of [[Michelangelo]]’s "[[Moses (Michelangelo)|Moses]]". In "Father Crucified", his father is stretched out on the cross, inspired by [[Matthias Grünewald]]’s painting "Crucifixion", and the painting "The Birth of Venus", inspired by [[Botticelli]]’s "[[The Birth of Venus]]", shows a [[gender]] fluid Venus, surrounded by admirers, possibly bowing to her or perhaps mocking her. The figures are gigantic, creating an [[Irony|ironic]] interpretation of the conception of beauty commonly attributed to the painting.<ref>
Davis, Barry (August 19, 2021).
[https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/jerusalem-artist-houses-new-exhibit-is-an-evocative-emotional-display-677230 Jerusalem Artist House's new exhibit is an evocative emotional display]. [[Jerusalem Post]].
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== Solo exhibitions ==
* 2021 "Nephilim", [[Jerusalem Artists House]], curator: Galit Semel<ref>[https://www.art.org.il/?exhibitions=noam-omer-nephilim&lang=en&c=n Omer Noam: Nephilim]. Jerusalem Artists House.</ref><ref>
Hovra, Gal and Bone, Noam (August 5, 2021).
[https://timeout.co.il/%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%9C%D7%A2%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%AA%D7%9C-%D7%90%D7%91%D7%99%D7%91-0508/ New exhibitions: Jerusalem Artists House]. Time Out.
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* 2020  "Downtown", Artists’ House, Kfar Saba, curator: Galit Semel<ref name="An interview with Noam Omer">[https://proartmeblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%AA%D7%A7-%D7%A2%D7%9D-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%9D-%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A8-%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9C-%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%A2/ An interview with Noam Omer]. Proartmeblog.</ref>
* 2019  "The Artist and the Muse", Art Space TLV, curator: Galit Semel<ref name="An interview with Noam Omer"/><ref>
(July 17, 2019).
[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/travel/.premium-the-complete-guide-to-israel-s-summer-art-shows-1.7535279 The Complete Guide to Israel's Summer Art Shows].  City Mouse ([[Ha'ir]]).</ref>
* 2018 "Glittering Pain", Tova Osman Gallery, curator: Tova Osman<ref>
Cohen, Adi (May 20, 2018).
[https://www.betipulnet.co.il/articles/%D7%9B%D7%90%D7%91_%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%96%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%94_%D7%92%D7%91%D7%95%D7%94%D7%94_%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%AA%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%94_%D7%A9%D7%9C_%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%9D_%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A8/ Contemplations following Noam Omer’s exhibition]. Betipulnet.</ref>
* 2017 "Construction of Man", Artists' House, Tel-Aviv, curator: Sari Golan<ref>
Cohen, Adi (November 13, 2017).
[https://www.betipulnet.co.il/articles/%D7%9E%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%A7%D7%A9%D7%A8_%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9F_%D7%92%D7%95%D7%A3_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%93%D7%9D_%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%91%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9F/ The link between body and structure]. Betipulnet.</ref>
* 2015 "Enclosed in His world", Triangle Art Space, Tel Aviv, curator: Sari Golan<ref>
Tzur, Ouzi (October 30, 2015). [https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/closeoneeye/.premium-1.2764768]. Haaretz.</ref>
* 2014 "Under the Pillow", [[Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art]], curator: Ayelet HaShachar Cohen<ref>(November – December 2014). [https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/art/exibitions/event-1.3491754  Under the Pillow]. Haaretz.</ref>
* 2013 "Tango", Tova Osman Gallery, Tel-Aviv, curator: Tova Osman<ref name=" Noam Omer exhibitions " >[https://museum.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/exhibitions/?artist=Omer,%20Noam&list= Noam Omer’s exhibitions]. [[Information Center for Israeli Art]]. [[Israel Museum]]. [[Jerusalem]].</ref>
* 2012 "Sidelooker", Gal-On Gallery, Tel-Aviv, curator: Yaniv Shapira<ref>
(October 25, 2012). [https://www.calcalist.co.il/consumer/articles/0,7340,L-3585833,00.html Suggested weekend activities]. [[Calcalist]].</ref>
* 2011 and 2012 "Traces",  Art and Culture Centre Kolvenburg (Germany) and On-Off Gallery, [[Hamburg]], Germany, curator: Yaniv Shapira<ref>Perschel, Volker (March 21, 2012). [https://www.bild.de/regional/hamburg/zweiter-weltkrieg/dieser-polnische-bauer-rettete-mich-vom-schlachtfeld-23244936.bild.html "A Polish peasant saved me from the killing field!"].  [[Bild]].</ref>
* 2011 "Lucian and I", Kayma Gallery, Tel-Aviv, curator: Philip Brandes<ref>
Shapira, Yaniv.
[http://www.yaffo.co.il/event_info.asp?id=2984 Lucian and I]. Yaffo portal.</ref>
* 2010 "Compassion", [[Shalom Meir Tower]] Gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: David Sharir<ref name=" Noam Omer exhibitions " />
* 2009 "Monkey and Flower", Artists' House, Tel-Aviv, curator: Yaniv Shapira<ref>
Armon Azoulay, Ellie (October 15, 2009).
[https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/1.3335261 New exhibitions]. Haaretz.</ref>
* 2009 "Fairytale" (Video), [[Janco Dada Museum]], curator: Raya Zommer Tal<ref>
[https://www.jancodada.co.il/?page_id=423 Exhibitions archive]. Janco Dada Museum.</ref>
* 2008 "Sermon to the Fishes", [[Installation art|Installation]] for the window of the Tova Osman Gallery, Tel-Aviv<ref>
[http://manofim.org/%D7%A6%D7%9C-%D7%93%D7%92%D7%99%D7%9D/ Sermon to the Fishes]. Manofim.</ref>
* 2008 "The World",  Ha'Kibbutz gallery, curator: Yaniv Shapira<ref>
(June–July 2008). [https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/art/exibitions/event-1.3520531 The World – Noam Omer]. Haaretz.</ref>
==Selected group exhibitions==
* 2021 "Monochrom: Haadam haroshem" ("The drawing person"), Tel Aviv Artists House, curator: Miriam Gamburd<ref>
[https://www.prtfl.co.il/archives/141974 Tel Aviv Artists House exhibitions February-March 2021]. Portfolio.</ref>
* 2014 "Outsider Art Fair", New York
* 2013 "War and Trauma", Museum Dr. Guislain, [[Ghent]], Belgium
* 2012 "We have a champion!", [[Eretz Israel Museum]], Tel-Aviv, curator: Dana Heller<ref>Svirski, Ronit.
[https://www.photour.co.il/index2.php?id=14&catId=892&lang=HEB Football in saturday]. Photour.</ref>
* 2009 "Secret Art", Beit Mani, curators: Doron Pollack and Esti Goren
* 2007 "Liminal Work" HaMidrashah Art Gallery, Tel-Aviv, curator: Doron Rabina<ref>
Gillerman, Dana (September 4, 2007).</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
Image:אסי דיין, מתוך התערוכה סיידלוקר, שמן על בד, 90-90.jpg|Portrait of [[Assi Dayan]], ''Sidelooker'', 2012 Oil on Canvas, 90x90 cm.
Image:מתחת לכר 2013 פחם על נייר 100-70.jpg|''Under the Pillow'', Charcoal on Paper, 2013, 100 x 70 cm.
Image:כלואה בעולמה, שמן על בד, 100-100.jpg|Grandma Sonia Locked in her World, ''Locked in his World'', 2013 Acrylic on Canvas, 100 x 100 cm.
Image:לידת וונוס 2012 אקריליק על בד 170-220.jpg|The Birth of Venus, ''Nephilim'', Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 2015, app. 200x140.
Image:מתוך העולם בעפרון, 2021, עפרונות על ניר, 120-140.jpg|Old couple (2020), ''The World in Pencils'', Colour pencils on pap, 120*140&nbsp;cm
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Visual arts in Israel]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Noam Omer}}
* [https://www.noamomer.com/ Official site]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omer, Noam}}
[[Category:Israeli contemporary artists]]
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:People from Hod HaSharon]]
[[Category:HaMidrasha – Faculty of the Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]