Dan Zakhem

Dan Zakhem (דן זקהיים; 13 May 1958 – 22 February 1994) was an Israeli performance artist and sculptor.

Biography
Dan Zakhem was born in Tel Aviv in 1958. From 1983 to 1985, after returning from studying art in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, he worked as an art director and graphic designer. In 1988 he established, together with Tamar Raban and Anat Schen, an organization called "Shelter 209", a non-profit organization for the advancement of performance art in Israel.

Alongside ceremonial and Shamanistic performances, such as "Falling Asleep on a Forest's Nipple" (1985), he created performances with post-modern artificial and spectacular characteristics, such as "The Babel Party" (1984).

In many of his works, he created deliberate blurring between art and life. In 1986, he was diagnosed with the HIV virus. Under this influence has created a series of works in which ballet of death as a central motif.

Death
In 1994, he died of a brain tumor caused by AIDS.

Education

 * 1974–76 Talma-Yalin High School, Givatayim, Israel
 * 1978–79 Classical Ballet, Bat Dor, Tel Aviv, Israel
 * 1979–82 B.F.A. Major Studio Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
 * 1983 Gray Adams Steps Schools, New York City
 * 1983 Fashion, television, theatre make-up, Audrey Morris & Co, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Teaching

 * 1990 Art Teachers College, Ramat Hasharon, multimedia

Prizes

 * 1987 Second prize, for the performance "Impressions from Above: a Phenomenon", Israel Festival, Jerusalem
 * 1991 Young Artist Prize, The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport

General references

 * http://www.danzakhem.com/
 * The Babel Party 1984
 * Meditation #2 1990
 * Impressions from Above – A Phenomenon 1987
 * Live – Life 1993
 * The Majesty of Absence 1991
 * Dennis the Menace Nomad 1990
 * Shelter 209 in Memory of Dan Zakhem
 * Shelter 209 in Memory of Dan Zakhem