"My mission is to unveil the beauty of the world through my works," says Australian painter Avraham Vofsi, who boosted his career by making aliyah last year. Today, his art is deeply inspired by his connection to Judaism, the Jewish people, and especially the land of Israel. Born in Melbourne, Avraham had no significant Jewish life in Australia. It wasn’t until late 2020, at the age of 31, that he began connecting with Jews worldwide, including those in Israel, through Instagram.
The artist is creating a new visual language for modern Jewish expression. Avraham responds to the currents of modern Jewish life, both in the diaspora and in Israel. Covering the spectrum of Jewish existence, he highlights community and personal stories through portraits, landscapes, and still lifes in oil painting. He represents Jewish subjects in the style of classic European realism.
"I’ve been painting for 9 years; before that, I was a filmmaker. In cinema, you tell a story involving characters, and I think the portrait is the most suitable format for representing a personal story. The portrait is actually the best way to tell someone’s story because you focus on their face and emotions. I quickly specialized in portrait; initially, I painted my friends to practice, then I painted people from various ethnicities and cultures with such poignant life stories that I could bring them out in my paintings," Avraham explains.
"After painting people of various ethnicities for 7 years, I decided it was time to focus on Jews, my people, and in 2021, I created my first portrait of a Jew, John Safran, an Australian radio presenter. He symbolizes my entry into Jewish art," Avraham recounts.
This portrait depicts the story of King David over a defeated Goliath, where John Safran is represented both as the victor and as beheaded. In 2022, Avraham was a finalist for the Archibald Prize, Australia's most prestigious portrait prize, for his painting of John Safran in the role of David and Goliath. The painting was exhibited at the Art Gallery NSW and the National Portrait Gallery, and is permanently housed at the Jewish Museum of Australia.
Aliyah: A Significant Turning Point
When the military operation in Gaza, "Guardian of the Walls," broke out in May 2021, Avraham understood things differently. The surge of online hatred against Jews and the bias towards the Palestinian cause were eye-opening for the young painter: he wanted to travel to Israel and see for himself the information streaming online.
"It was the first time I was exposed to the raw volume and intensity of unrestrained anti-Semitism that always comes to life during times of conflict. It was particularly painful to see my 'good' friends spreading vile lies online while my new friends were running to bomb shelters. There was a gap between what Jews and Israelis were saying and what everyone else was saying. I had to discover Israel and see with my own eyes what was happening there. For the first time, I realized my close connection to Jews living in Israel as well as to Jews in the diaspora," Avraham says.
Avraham made his first trip to Israel in 2022 and held an exhibition featuring 5 portraits and 4 landscapes related to his newfound love for the Hebrew state. He made aliyah in August 2023.
Among his major projects are "B’aretz: Portrait of a Land (2023)," a reflective look at his first visit to Israel and growing Jewish identity, and "Essentials: Portraits of Frontline Workers (2022)," a tribute to essential workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne.
His paintings narrate the story of an Australian Jew seeking to discover Israel for himself and realizing that it "is not a perfect place."
A Year of War in Paintings
Avraham's new project addresses October 7 and its various aspects, a tragedy that has deeply shaken the world and plunged Israelis into a new reality for nearly a year. "Since October 7, I have worked on different landscapes and portraits, trying to bring out the grace of this very dark period. I hope it will give the public optimism and help them reflect on what it means to be Jewish today," says the artist.
Over the past year, Avraham has created 6 large paintings and 6 smaller ones, depicting everything from bomb-damaged landscapes, north and south, to a man who saved Israelis from Hamas’s massacre or cars of Nova festival-goers torched by terrorists.
"I wanted to give meaning to the unthinkable and pay tribute to those affected by the horrors of war. I feel so fortunate to be able to bring some positivity into the world during these very tough times," Avraham says.
The exhibition will take place in Jerusalem on October 7, then in December in Australia, and later in Paris, London, Berlin, and New York.
Avraham Vofsi's website
Caroline Haïat
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