The Alexi
Generation Of
Israeli Artists.

FELICE MARANZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

These are the best of times for culture buffs in Israel. The signs of an aesthetic sea change are everywhere. A new

generation of uniquely Israeli artists is emerging out of venues such as the Tel Aviv Artists' Studios and the Jerusalem

Print Workshop. Men and women in their 30s and 40s who never knew a time without a Jewish state are just start-

ing to have their first major shows. * While there's still the sense that Jews make great violinists and novelists but

lag behind when it comes to painting, things are changing fast. * "The art scene has really developed in the last two

years," says gallery owner Noemi Givon. Her Givon Gallery, two small rooms with gray tile floors and a tiny black desk

in central Tel Aviv, was considered avant garde only a few years ago. Now, to her surprise, it's already become estab-

lishment. Givon Gallery's artists are two generations away from the founding fathers of Israeli art, men who dedi-

cated themselves in the 1950s to forcing the country's art away from figurative painting and into a gentle, colored,

formless "lyrical abstraction." The second generation, now in their 50s and 60s, moved art away from the purely ab-

stract. * Some combine images from across art history with Hebrew words and stars of David. Others use the lan-

guage of bright colors and clear forms to create bold images. Their works pepper international museums and may soon

Felice Maranz

is an American-
Israeli writer
living in
Jerusalem.

be joined by the next generation of Israeli artists. * One of these artists, Nurit David, says, `Where's a specific jargon

that's developed here; it's in the details. You need an open ear, a kind of sensitivity." She speaks for herself and a

whole cluster of Israel's emerging generation of artists. Here's a look at six of them: L