Alma Itzhaky

Alma Itzhaky born 1984, Tel Aviv. Lives and works in Berlin.

Itzhaky’s work is embedded in the tradition of figurative painting, and strives to relate this tradition to an Israeli context and find new ways of using painting as a viable medium for addressing contemporary reality. Her large-scale paintings depict social scenes and moments of encounter, set in the urban surroundings of Tel Aviv – Jaffa. These encounters are violent as much as they are erotic and blissful, always undulating between the two possibilities. They touch on the aggressive potential latent in every group situation, but also on sentiments of solidarity and identification.

Alongside her work as an artist, Itzhaky is a researcher in both political and art philosophy. Her PhD dissertation discusses political action in contemporary art in light of Hannah Arendt’s philosophy of action. She is currently a Minerva Fellow at the Leibniz Center for Literary and Cultural Research, where she explores environmental imaginaries in Palestinian and Israeli art – the engagement between contemporary art and collective perceptions of  the local environment and its history.

Itzhaky has won major prizes, including the Rappaport Prize for a Young Artist (2014), and the Osnat Mozes Painting Prize (2012).  She has had three solo exhibition, most recently at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2015). Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions and is included in major public and private collections, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art collection. Itzhaky has also participated in international workshops and residencies, including the Bronner Residency (Düsseldorf, 2012), and the NARS Foundation Residency (NYC, 2016).