Michael Kovner
b.1948
Michael
Kovner was born in Hadera, Israel,
raised and educated on Kibbutz Ein Hachoresh. He studied 1972-1975 in New
York at the New York
Studio School
and was influenced by the teachings of Philip Guston, Jack Tworkow and Mercedes
Mattar. In 1975 he Joins Bezalel Academy of Art and Design as an art instructor
and the American-Israel Foundation scholarship committee.
In 1978-1980 Explores new artistic
directions with a series of bird’s-eye-view landscapes painted from aerial
photographs and desert vistas painted in the outdoors. Begins his relationship
woth the Bineth Gallery in Tel-Aviv. Mounts two successful shows at the Gallery
– desert paintings and an exhibition of drawings.
In 1996-1997 Exhibitions in New
York, Washington DC and in New Haven, Connecticut.
1998 Together with artist friend Jan
Rauchwerger paints the port
of Ashdod. The paintings
are exhibited in Museums in Haifa and Ashdod.
2000 Returns to the Beit Shean Valley; deals with the relationship
between water and sky and paints the fish ponds and reservoirs in a series
entitled "Lakes".
Jan Rauchwerger asks Kovner to share a
studio in New York City
where he now works for three months each year.
Professionals Highlights
Selected
One-Man Exhibitions
1975 - "Paintings from New-York", Artists House, Jerusalem
1978 - "Landscape Drawings: A Bird’s Eye View",
Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
1979 - "Desert", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
1981 - "Houses in Gaza", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv (catalogue)
1983 -"Images": Paintings according to "Lego",
Gordon Gallery, Tel-Aviv
(catalogue)
1985 -"Meet an Israeli Artist", Israel Museum,
Jerusalem
"Portraits", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
1988 -"Landscapes", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
1990 - "Jerusalem
Scenes", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
1992 - "A Girl in a Room", Bineth Gallery,
Tel-Aviv
1995 -"End of 1995", Bineth Gallery, Tel-Aviv
(catalogue)
1996 -"Eretz", N.A.F.I. Gallery, New York
1997 -"Eretz", Yale
University, New Haven
1998 -"Eretz – Landscapes of Israel", Ann
Loeb Bronfman Gallery,
Washington, DC, co-sponsored by the Embassy of Israel for
the 50th
anniversary of the State of Israel
1998 -"Port", Haifa
Museum, Ashdod Museum
(catalogue)
2000- "Orchards", Artspace, Jerusalem
"Haystacks", Bineth Gallery, Tel Aviv
2001 -"The Human side" David
Yalin college for Education, Jerusalem
2002 - "Landscapes 1978-2002", The Museum
of Israeli Art,
Ramat Gan
(book)
2002 - "Seascapes", Gallery on the Cliff, Natania
2005 - "New
York Landscapes",
Bineth Gallery Tel Aviv
2006 - May 4 "the Mountain and the
Sea", George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco
Selected Group Exhibitions
1972-1978 - New York Galleries in USA - Salander
O’Reily Galleries, NYC
1981 - "Israeli Prints from the Burston
Graphic Center",
The Israel Museum,
Jerusalem (catalogue)
1981 - "A Turning Point", Twelve Israeli Artists, Tel-Aviv Museum
of Art,
Tel-Aviv (catalogue)
1983 - "The Negev in Israeli Art", Ben
Gurion University
of the Negev
(catalogue)
1987 - "Towards a New Realism", The Ashdot-Ya’acov Museum, Kibbutz
Ashdot -Ya’acov (catalogue)
1988 - "Fresh Paint", the Younger Generation in Israeli Art, Tel-Aviv Museum
of Art, Tel-Aviv (catalogue)
1991 - "Mountains Round About", Jerusalem
in Israeli Printmaking from the
Seventies and the Eighties, Exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of
Education and Culture (catalogue)
1992 - "Tribute to Ayala Zacks", Israel
Museum, Jerusalem
1994 - "The Printer’s Imprint", Twenty Years of the Jerusalem Print
Workshop, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
(catalogue)
1995 - "Autumn Gallery", The Museum
of Israeli Art, Ramat-Gan
1996-1997 - "The Jewish Continuity", Jewish Museum, New York
1997 - "Landscapes", The Museum
of Israeli Art, Ramat-Gan
1998 - "50/50" - Fifty Israeli Artists for Israel’s Fiftieth Anniversary,
Jewish
Museum, San Francisco
2001 - "Collection +", The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2003 – "Marked Landscapes" Ben Gurion University,
Beer Sheba
2004 – "Our Landscapes", University of Haifa, Haifa
2005 - March 10 – "The continuous Mark: 40 years of the New
York Studio
School
2003-2005 - George Krevsky Gallery, San
Francisco
Public
Works
Mural – Electricity Company, Jerusalem, Painting on
ceramic tiles, 6X4 m., 1997
Mural – Beit-Ha’Oved,
Haifa Painting on ceramic tiles,
2.5X20 m., 1998
Mural in "Denmark"
High School in Jerusalem,
oil on wood, 3.4X5 m., 1979
Selected Collections
Jewish Museum, New York
Israel Museum,
Jerusalem
Tel Aviv
Museum of Art
Haifa Museum
The Open Museum,
Tefen
The President’s Residence, Jerusalem
Fellowships
1984 - Awarded fellowship to study in New York by the
American-Israeli Cultural Foundation.
Personal:
Date of birth: May 25, 1948
Place of birth: Hadera,
Israel, raised
and educated on Kibbutz Ein Hachoresh
Married + 2 boys (b.1977, b. 1981)
Contact
Michael Kovner
Address: 4
Barak Street, Jerusalem
Tel: +972-35101205
E-mail: info@artlid.com
