Haaretz, October 19, 2009
Eating from the Tree of Knowledge, by Ellie Armon Azoulay
“Just about everyone in Israel knows who Yaacov Agam is - a pioneer of kinetic art here and abroad, known, inter alia, for "Jacob's Ladder, on display at Jerusalem's Binyanei Ha'uma Convention Center; his sculpture, "100 Gates" at the President's Residence; the monumental wall murals, "The March of Time," which inaugurated the new Tel Aviv Museum in 1970; and for designing the western facade of the Dan Hotel on Hayarkon Street in the 1970s. He is the man behind the unique and notorious fountain in Dizengoff Square (1986); he developed a display technique using perspective known as an Agamograph; a writing method known as Agamilim, where changing one letter changes the entire word, curricula for visual education and more…. When he was 20, Agam enrolled in the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and, among others, studied under Mordechai Ardon.”
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Haaretz, September 27, 2009
The Accidental Sculptor, by Ellie Armon Azoulay
“Recipient of this year’s Israel Prize for Sculpture, [Micha] Ullman showed two new works at the Art TLV biennial that closed last week, and his large solo show just opened at Alexander Ochs Galleries in Berlin….Micha Ullman was born in Tel Aviv in 1939, to parents who immigrated from Germany….After the army he enrolled in Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, where he studied under Shlomo Vitkin, Isidor Ascheim and Yerahmiel Schechter.”
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Seed Magazine, September 21, 2009
A New Map for Design by Paola Antonelli, the senior curator of design and architecture at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
“…many vibrant schools have created new centers of design gravity around the world, from Eindhoven’s Design Academy in Holland, to Bezalel in Jerusalem.”
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The New York Times, September 20, 2009
West Jerusalem Shows Its Hip Secular Side, by David Kaufman
“Leading local institutions such as the Israel Museum, the annual Israel Festival, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Bezalel Arts Academy have given Jerusalem an urban edge that serves as both an anchor and oasis in the midst of the city’s grandeur and gravitas.”
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Haaretz, September 15, 2009
In the beginning was the word, by Yuval Sa'ar
“[Yossi] Lemel, 52, graduated from the graphic design department at Bezalel Academy in 1983. He worked at Arieli Advertising for two years before going independent. Today he's joint CEO and creative director at the Lemel-Cohen advertising firm. The posters he designs for Amnesty, the Association for Human Rights in Israel, Greenpeace, the Committee for the War on AIDS, the New Family organization and others have won numerous prizes and been exhibited around the world. Sometimes he seems to divide his time equally between designing posters and showing them. This year Lemel exhibited in Chicago at the first poster biennale in the United States; twice in Poland; and at a poster biennale in Mexico City. Ater Stockholm, he will show in La Paz.”
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The Jerusalem Post, September 3, 2009
Arts in Brief, Bezalel celebrates in City of Lights,Jerusalem Post staff
“The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design will mark 100 years since its inception with a Paris exhibition entitled “Bezalel-Paris.” On display will be 100 pieces by students past and present in all of the school’s departments, including Fine Arts, Visual Communication, Industrial Design, Ceramic Design, Jewelry and more. The opening of the exhibition, at the Orangerie du Senate on September 17, will be attended, among others, by Israel’s Ambassador to France Daniel Shek and Bezalel President Professor Arnon Zuckerman. The works will be displayed in Paris through the en d of the month, when they will travel to other locales in Europe and the US.”
The Forward, August 14, 2009
100 Candles, Times Two: A Triple Centennial ‘Mazel Tov’ To Blanche And Romie Shapiro And Bezalel,
by Masha Leon
“On July 23, Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, presented Blanche and Romie Shapiro with an official proclamation upon the occasion of their 100th birthdays. With friends and admirers gathered at their Park Avenue apartment that is enhanced by electric art, the mayor spoke movingly of the Shapiros’ decades-long support for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, which is also celebrating its 100th year. Bezalel, named after Betz’ala — son of Uri, who was the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah — the architect of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25), is moving to a new home in the center of Jerusalem. Graduates of Bezalel, which now boasts 2,000 students, have exhibited in world-class museums including the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, the Pompidou in Paris and the Tate in London. Married for 76 years, the Shapiros founded the Friends of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in New York more than 30 years ago and have presided over annual awards dinners at which the Bezalel Jerusalem Prize for Arts and Letters was presented to such honorees such as architect I.M. Pei, photographer Yousuf Karsh, glass artist Dale Chihuly, educator and renaissance man Vartan Gregorian, and writer and art maven Rosamond Bernier.”
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ARTnews, May 2009
Israel's Museums: The Next Generation, by Michael Z. Wise.
“Even before the establishment of the Jewish state, in 1948, Zionist leaders took pains to foster the growth of museums and other cultural institutions. The first modern institution was the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Founded in Jerusalem in 1906, it was named after the biblical artisan Bezalel, who, according to the book of Exodus, constructed the Ark of the Covenant…. At Bezalel in Jerusalem—considered the best of the four main art academies in Israel— some 2,000 students are currently studying art, architecture, industrial design, fashion, and film…. Bezalel’s selection of a non-Israeli architectural team to design its new campus reflects a more open attitude for an academy founded by Zionists and intent on imbuing art and culture with a biblical vision.”
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