Thirty-eight landscape oil paintings and their corresponding newspaper impressions formed the core of the 1993 series titled Tsooba, a project that examined the tension between artistic abstraction and the physical reality of abandoned Palestinian ruins. This body of work solidified a career built on re-evaluating historical narratives through the lens of modernist painting and printmaking practices.
Early Development and Training
Born in 1954 in South Africa, Abramson relocated to Jerusalem in 1961. During his final year of secondary school at the Hebrew University Secondary School in 1970, he signed a petition as a conscientious objector regarding the rejection of peace initiatives proposed by Egyptian President Nasser. His formal artistic training took place in 1973 at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, where he completed a Foundation Course before returning to Israel to work as a printer and curator at the Jerusalem Print Workshop until 1986.
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Throughout the 1980s, Abramson explored symbols of European modernism, most notably Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square. He integrated these motifs into abstract compositions. His 1993 series Tsooba provided a critical response to the landscape work of Joseph Zaritsky. While Zaritsky had previously painted the same site near Kibbutz Tzova in an abstract style that omitted evidence of village ruins, Abramson depicted the remains realistically before physically defacing his own canvases to highlight the erasure of local history.
Academic Leadership and The Pile
Abramson joined the faculty of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in 1984. He was appointed head of the Fine Art department in 1992 and established the Master of Fine Art program for young artists in 1996. His academic focus extended to the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in 2002. Later, his 2005 series, The Pile, continued his investigation into ruin representation, drawing inspiration from the life and work of the German painter Felix Nussbaum.
Recognition and Retrospection
His influence on the Israeli art scene is marked by numerous honors, including the Beatrice S. Kolliner Award in 1979 and the 2007 Mendel and Eva Pundik Foundation Prize for Israeli Art. Major institutional recognition culminated in 2010 with an extensive retrospective of his career hosted at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. His writings, such as the 2002 essay We Are All Felix Nussbaum, further articulate his views on the intersection of post-Holocaust history and visual representation.
Fast facts
- Born: 1954, South Africa
- Primary Field: Painting
- Citizenship: South Africa, Israel
- Education: Chelsea College of Art and Design
- Employment: Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
- Major Recognition: Mendel and Eva Pundik Foundation Prize (2007)
- Language: English
Questions readers ask
What is the significance of the Tsooba series?
It used oil painting and newspaper impressions to criticize the abstraction of landscapes that concealed the physical ruins of Palestinian villages.
Did Abramson teach at the university level?
Yes, he was a long-term educator at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and held positions at the San Francisco Art Institute and Shenkar College.
Achievements
- Mendel and Eva Pundik Foundation Prize for Israeli Art — 2007
