Zigi Ben-Haim: Journey With Me

“Nothing is safe from the hands and wickedly humorous and tantalizing imagination of Ben-Haim.”

— Vivienne Thaul Wechter

“The essence of my work lies in balancing the tension between surviving and vanishing. To my work, this is the seed of inspiration—capable of bringing new life.”

– Zigi Ben-Haim

Journey With Me showcased internationally renowned American-Israeli sculptor and painter Zigi Ben-Haim’s artistry and philosophy. In this exhibition, Ben-Haim evoked his heartfelt views on migration, with allusion to his own experiences as an émigré to the US. Ben-Haim’s sculptures are dynamic hybrids, most of which meld diverse materials (copper, concrete, steel mesh, acrylic urethane) and antithetical textures (softness and toughness, organic and urban) to suggest the perpetual balancing act of a divided identity.

Born in Baghdad, Ben-Haim grew up in Israel and studied at the Avni Institute of Fine Arts in Tel-Aviv from 1966 to 1970. After moving to the US, he went to California College of Arts & Crafts in 1971, receiving his MA from JFK University in 1973 and his MFA from San Francisco State University a year later. An accomplished artist, Ben-Haim has works in many public collections, including Haifa Museum, Haifa, Israel; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; World Bank, Washington, DC; Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY; University of Maryland, College Park, MD; Phillip Berman Museum, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA; and many others.

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