Jerusalem

ITZCHAK FLEISHEKER Itzchak Fleisheker was born in 1957 in Serbia, Ukrania. Between the years 1980-1984, Fleisheker attended the Minsk Institute of Art in Belarouse. In Mogilov, Belarouse, he specialized in monumental artworks and large wall paintings. In 1990, Fleisheker immigrated to Israel and is currently living in Haifa with his wife and 2 children. Fleisheker’s works are unique in the structure of the color which is raised above the canvas. This is the effect of working with colors mixed with sand, with plaster and coarse paintbrushes. In the Land of Israel there is something special about the sunlight and the local scale of colors and these Fleisheker understands and captures in his paintings. The subjects are hinted at rather than explicit, but some details are nevertheless clearly presented. Fleisheker stimulates our imagination but does not tell the story from A to Z. This is art which does not preach but gets to the heart of the matter by way of allusions.

ITZCHAK FLEISHEKER Itzchak Fleisheker was born in 1957 in Serbia, Ukrania. Between the years 1980-1984, Fleisheker attended the Minsk Institute of Art in Belarouse. In Mogilov, Belarouse, he specialized in monumental artworks and large wall paintings. In 1990, Fleisheker immigrated to Israel and is currently living in Haifa with his wife and 2 children. Fleisheker’s works are unique in the structure of the color which is raised above the canvas. This is the effect of working with colors mixed with sand, with plaster and coarse paintbrushes. In the Land of Israel there is something special about the sunlight and the local scale of colors and these Fleisheker understands and captures in his paintings. The subjects are hinted at rather than explicit, but some details are nevertheless clearly presented. Fleisheker stimulates our imagination but does not tell the story from A to Z. This is art which does not preach but gets to the heart of the matter by way of allusions.

Gregory Kohelet was born in 1954 in Fergana.

The son of a sculptor, Gregory was initiated into art by his father. He wasn’t pressured to learn “the classical laws of Art” but only to love and respect nature – the master teacher.

As a young boy, Gregory traveled with his father to wild landscapes with the intention of learning to understand the meaning of composition, color, and expression as they exist in Nature.

There, he listened to the music, understood the wisdom of the stones. Nature taught him to listen to silence. He thought that if he were to stay there he would become a Buddhist. But his was a different destiny.

He left his parents and his town Fergana at the age of 14 and went to study art in Tashkent.
He studied painting for 4 years at the Art College, and then for five more years at the Academy of Art.

He had excellent teachers, many from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

At College he was particularly influenced by Eastern art: Japanese, Chinese, Indian, while at the Academy he studied European Art: Giotto, Bruegel, Modigliani, More, Brancusi and Russian icons.

Yet he felt that his life’s course must pass through Jerusalem. In 1990 he immigrated with his family to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. In the holy city he absorbed much light and divine inspiration. He believes in G-d, but only in Jerusalem did he really “meet” him.

His influences from literature: The Bible essentially, Rilke, Matzu-Batzu (China), Lorca (Spain), Eluard (France)…

His influences from the world of music: Mozart, Bach, organ and liturgical (Armenian, Catholic, Jewish…)

His family is also a source of inspiration. His son Daniel – born in Jerusalem, his first son – born in Tashkent, and his wife, who dominates the female figure in his work.