Raffi Lavie
Encyclopedia
Raffi Lavie was an Israeli artist, art educator
and music/art critic
.
, Mandate Palestine. He began teaching at the Midrasha
Art Academy in 1966. In the same year he was also a founder of the group Ten Plus. Lavie's work is a cross between graffiti
and abstract expressionism
. He influenced a generation of young artists. In the early 1960s, Raffi Lavie began to paint in spontaneous scrawls, which soon began to echo graffiti and comic strip art. He wrote on his paintings as if they were walls covered with scribbles. Nurtured by Aviva Uri
and Arie Aroch
, his work is angry, nervous, aggressive, and abrasive. He was invited to exhibit with "New Horizons", but his work had already, at the beginning of the 1960s, challenged the delicate lyricism of the group. Towards the end of the 1960s, Lavi] began to glue photographs, reproductions and posters on his works, combining varied aesthetic elements; kitsch, applied graphics, children's drawing, and political rhetoric. He transformed the banal into art and breathed art into the banal. Like Tumarkin
and Lifshitz
he scorned bourgeois prototypes of beauty, and sought to restore the image to art after its banishment by "New Horizons". The synthesis of scribbled line and collage is unique to Lavie's work. It has been compared to the work of American artist Cy Twombly
. He retired at the age of 62. In 2002, a retrospective exhibit of his work was held at the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem. In 2005, he had a solo exhibition at Givon Gallery in Tel Aviv.
Due to severe back problems, Lavie painted in his last years while sitting. On May 7, 2007, he died of pancreatic cancer
at his home in Tel Aviv, aged 70. He donated his body to the University of Tel Aviv for research.
Art education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
and music/art critic
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
.
Biography
Lavi was born in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Mandate Palestine. He began teaching at the Midrasha
Midrasha
A refers to an institute of Jewish studies for women. In Israel, it is often an Orthodox institution that caters solely to women, and roughly the equivalent of a yeshiva for men. The term is often translated as 'seminary'. In the United States, the term has also been used to refer to...
Art Academy in 1966. In the same year he was also a founder of the group Ten Plus. Lavie's work is a cross between graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
. He influenced a generation of young artists. In the early 1960s, Raffi Lavie began to paint in spontaneous scrawls, which soon began to echo graffiti and comic strip art. He wrote on his paintings as if they were walls covered with scribbles. Nurtured by Aviva Uri
Aviva Uri
Aviva Uri was an Israeli painter.-Biography:Aviva Uri's abstract drawings link her to the "New Horizons" group, but suggest an alternative to the abstract art being created in the country: instead of oils, she created drawings on paper; instead of the professional mixing of colors, she used no...
and Arie Aroch
Arie Aroch
Arie Aroch was an Israeli painter, recipient of The Israel Prize for Painting.- Biography :Arie Aroch, , painter, born 1908, Kharkov, Russia...
, his work is angry, nervous, aggressive, and abrasive. He was invited to exhibit with "New Horizons", but his work had already, at the beginning of the 1960s, challenged the delicate lyricism of the group. Towards the end of the 1960s, Lavi] began to glue photographs, reproductions and posters on his works, combining varied aesthetic elements; kitsch, applied graphics, children's drawing, and political rhetoric. He transformed the banal into art and breathed art into the banal. Like Tumarkin
Yigal Tumarkin
Yigal Tumarkin is an Israeli painter and sculptor. He is also known as Igael Tumarkin.-Biography:...
and Lifshitz
Lifshitz
Lifshitz is a surname, which may be derived from the Polish city of Głubczyce , and may refer to:* Evgeny Lifshitz, , a Soviet physicist...
he scorned bourgeois prototypes of beauty, and sought to restore the image to art after its banishment by "New Horizons". The synthesis of scribbled line and collage is unique to Lavie's work. It has been compared to the work of American artist Cy Twombly
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors...
. He retired at the age of 62. In 2002, a retrospective exhibit of his work was held at the Israel Museum
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
in Jerusalem. In 2005, he had a solo exhibition at Givon Gallery in Tel Aviv.
Due to severe back problems, Lavie painted in his last years while sitting. On May 7, 2007, he died of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
at his home in Tel Aviv, aged 70. He donated his body to the University of Tel Aviv for research.