Avner Ben-Gal

Avner Ben-Gal (26 August 1966 – 9 May 2024) was an Israeli international painter and artist, working mainly from Tel Aviv, Israel. His works depict various intense, often neglected locations such as agricultural fields, prisons and smoky interiors, whereby theatrical scenes play out. The scenes present ghostly, rough hewn and often low life figures that are bare and hardened. The parallel between Ben-Gal's raw way of painting and his tough, ambiguous subject matter allows a unique intensity within his paintings.

Biography
Avner Ben-Gal was born on 26 August 1966. He studied Fine Art at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem in 1993. Ben-Gal was the subject of solo shows at museums such as the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2002, 2009); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland (2008); and Sudden Poverty at the Aspen Art Museum, Colorado, United States (2007); and he has participated in various group shows, including DARK at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and as part of the Venice Biennial, 2003. A number of books have been published on his work, notably a catalogue to accompany his 2008 show in Basel.

Ben-Gal was later represented by Sadie Coles HQ London, Bortolami Gallery, New York, CFA Gallery, Berlin and by Tempo Rubato gallery, Tel Aviv. He died from a heart attack on 9 May 2024, at the age of 57.

Prizes and awards
2001	Residency program at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York (NY), USA

1998 Minister of Education and Cultural Prize, Israel

1996 Kollner award for excellent young artists, Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem, Israel

1993 Mary Fischer award for excellent young artists, Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem, Israel

Selected solo exhibitions
2013 2012	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2002	2001	1999	1998	1997	1995
 * The Rover, CFA Gallery, Berlin
 * Sadie Coles HQ, London
 * Smackville, Bortolami, NY
 * Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
 * Fabio Tiboni, Bologna, Italy
 * Sadie Coles HQ, London
 * Kunstmuseum Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Switzerland
 * Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
 * Bortolami Dayan, New York
 * Sadie Coles HQ, London
 * Cursed By Slaves, Nouvelles Images Gallery, The Hague, Holland
 * Helena, The Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * The Eve of Destruction, Tal Esther Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * New Army, Mary Fauzi Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * Curly Drugs, the Artists’ Studios Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * Design, Hamidrasha Academy of Art Gallery, Beit Berl, Israel
 * Avivit, the Israel Museum of Art, Jerusalem

Selected group exhibitions
2013 2012 2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2001	2000	1999	1998	1994
 * “La figurazione inevitabile” per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
 * “Mythographies”, Yafo 23, Jerusalem
 * “Accelerating Toward Apocalypse: Works from the Doron Sebbag Art Collection”, Givon Art Forum, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * “The Museum Presents Itself: Israeli Art from the Museum Collection”, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * “The Second Strike”, Hezliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Hezliya, Israel
 * Re-Dressing, Bortolami, NY
 * What Is Political, Bat - Yam Museum of art, Israel
 * Directions, A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
 * History of Violence, Haifa Museum of Art, Israel
 * Penal Colony, Ein Harod Museum, Israel
 * SGOZZATA, Peres Projects, Berlin
 * Eventually We'll Die, Young art in Israel of the Nineties, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel
 * XXS (Extra Extra Small), Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * Infinite Painting: Contemporary Painting and Global Realism, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Passariano, Codroipo (Udine), Italy
 * Dark, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam, Holland
 * Through the looking glass, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich
 * A Wonderful View, Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam
 * The New Hebrews, Martin Gropius-Bau, Berlin
 * Huts, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin
 * Painting 2004, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
 * Clandestine, the 50th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
 * The Armory Show, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
 * Israel Spunky, Exit Art, New York
 * Le Repubbliche Dell’Arte; the Israeli Season, Palazzo Delle Papesse, Sienna, Italy
 * Wish List: New Acquisitions, Israel Museum of Art, Jerusalem
 * Ladies and Gentlemen, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * Video Program # 3: Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
 * The Lesser Light, Israel Museum of Art, Jerusalem
 * Spring at the end of the summer, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * Ministry of Education and Culture Award Exhibition, Herzilya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
 * En Suite, Museum van Hedenaagse Kunst, Ghent, Belgium
 * Transit, ArtFocus 1, New Central Bus Station, Tel Aviv, Israel