Ophrah Shemesh

{{short description|Israeli-American artist}} '''Ophrah Shemesh''' (December 9, 1952) is an American artist, best known for her intense, existentially themed oil and tempera paintings of women and men.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tosi|first=Barbara|title=Tanti Retratti di Divi Non Illustri|journal=La Repubblica|date=May 24, 1995}}</ref><ref name="GoodmanJonathan">{{cite journal|last=Goodman|first=Jonathan|title=Ophrah Shemesh at Baumgartner|journal=Art in America|date=February 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Cohen|first=David|title=Deliciously Distressed|journal=New York Sun|date=March 13, 2008|url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/deliciously-distressed/72817/}}</ref> thumb|Ophrah Shemesh at opening of Boundless, 2017

==Early life and career== Born in Haifa, Israel, to Albert Shemesh<ref>{{cite web|title=Albert Shemesh|url=https://lehi.org.il/en/shemesh-albert/}}</ref> and Carmella-Daisy Levy. Albert was an important Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) activist in Iraq, before the creation of the state of Israel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Meir-Glitzenstein|first=Esther|title=Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0714655791|pages=122–123}}</ref> Shemesh studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design<ref name="nyss">{{cite web|title=New York Studio School biography|url=http://www.nyss.org/programs-courses/faculty/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209005715/http://www.nyss.org/programs-courses/faculty/|archive-date=2010-12-09}}</ref> in Jerusalem (1972-1976).

In 1973, Israeli filmmaker and director Amos Gitai<ref>{{cite book|last=Privett|first=Ray|title=Amos Gitai: Exile and Atonement|year=2008|publisher=Cinema Purgatorio LLC|isbn=0615223419|pages=36}}</ref> cast her in a short film, ''My Mother at the Seashore'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Gitai|first=Amos|title=My Mother at the Seashore|url=http://www.amosgitai.com/html/film.asp?docid=23&lang=1|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> and later gave her a leading role in ''Golem, the Spirit of Exile''<ref>{{cite web|title=Golem, the Spirit of Exile|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104356/|publisher=imdb.com|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> (1991), also starring Hanna Schygulla, Sam Fuller, and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Shemesh attended the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture (NYSS) from 1979-1983.<ref name="nyss" /> In 1986, she was one of a new group of teachers brought in by then dean, Bruce Gagnier,<ref>{{cite news|last=Samet|first=Jennifer Sachs|title=Many Styles, Drawn Together: The Studio School at 40|url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/many-styles-drawn-together/9399/|newspaper=New York Sun|date=February 17, 2005}}</ref> and has been a member of the faculty since.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Continuous Mark: 40 Years of the New York Studio School|url=http://www.nyss.org/exhibitions/the-continuous-mark/the-continuous-mark-part-3/slide-show-1979-1988/}}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> In 2009, she was interviewed by Stanley Crouch as part of the NYSS Evening Lecture Series, "In Conversation with Stanley Crouch".<ref>{{cite web|title=NYSS Evening Lecture Series "In Conversation with Stanley Crouch"|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ma_26uk8y1bdx1Qxh-ysjRiYtkTkssyF/view?usp=sharing}}</ref> Shemesh has also taught and spoken in a variety of other programs and symposia, including the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts,<ref>{{cite web|title=Syracuse University College of Visual & Performing Arts|url=http://vpa.syr.edu/news/painter-ophrah-shemesh-speak-march-29|access-date=2013-01-10|archive-date=2015-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209025216/http://vpa.syr.edu/news/painter-ophrah-shemesh-speak-march-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kremer Pigments, the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture,<ref>{{cite web|title=The International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture|url=http://www.giotto.org/cimabue/faculty.html|access-date=2013-01-10|archive-date=2008-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719150943/http://www.giotto.org/cimabue/faculty.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the Sicily Artist in Residence Program (SARP),<ref>{{cite web|title=Sicily Artist in Residence Program|url=http://www.balloonproject.it/9693-2/}}</ref> and the College de France.<ref>{{cite web|title=College de France|url=https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/en-amos-gitai/symposium-2019-06-06-17h00.htm}}</ref>

Shemesh’s work is in the permanent collection of Collezione Maramotti<ref>{{cite web|title=Collezione Maramotti|url=http://www.collezionemaramotti.org/en/The-Artists}}</ref> and appears in Mario Diacono (2012), ''Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms, 1995-2007'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Diacono|first=Mario|title=Archetypes and Historicity: Painting and Other Radical Forms, 1995-2007|year=2012|publisher=Silvana Editoriale|isbn=8836623255|url=http://www.collezionemaramotti.org/en/work-in-progress/2012107/Archetypes-and-Historicity/1328|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530010247/http://www.collezionemaramotti.org/en/work-in-progress/2012107/Archetypes-and-Historicity/1328|archive-date=2015-05-30}}</ref> ''Ophrah Shemesh: Silence of the Sirens, 2008-2011'',<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.ophrahshemesh.com/archive-silence-of-the-sirens|title=Silence of the Sirens, 2008-2011|last=Shemesh|first=Ophrah|year=2012}}</ref> and Max Tomasinelli (2011), ''Portraits of Artists''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tomasinelli|first=Max|title=Portraits of Artists|url=http://www.portraitsofartists.com/|access-date=2013-01-05|archive-date=2013-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614173505/http://portraitsofartists.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Solo exhibitions== thumb|right|Ophrah Shemesh and model by Max Tomasinelli for ''Portraits of Artists'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portraitsofartists.com/|title=Max Tomasinelli - Artist - Photographer|website=www.portraitsofartists.com}}</ref> 2011

*Harms & Twombly,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ashadedviewonfashion.com/2017/05/17/ophrah-shemesh-boundless-co-curated-by-loretta-harms-caio-twombly-june-1-20th/|title=OPHRAH SHEMESH Boundless Co-Curated by Loretta Harms & Caio Twombly June 1-20th|access-date=2017-05-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ophrahshemesh.com/|title=Ophrah Shemesh|website=www.ophrahshemesh.com|access-date=2017-05-25}}</ref> New York, NY, 2017 *Freight & Volume,<ref>{{cite web|title=Freight + Volume Gallery|url=http://www.freightandvolume.com/exhibitions/2008-02-23_ophrah-shemesh-i-and-thou/}}</ref> New York, NY, 2008 *Stephen Wirtz Gallery,<ref>{{cite web|title=Stephen Wirtz Gallery|url=http://www.wirtzgallery.com/exhibitions/2003/2003_04/shemesh/shemesh_2003.html|access-date=2013-01-05|archive-date=2008-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123083627/http://www.wirtzgallery.com/exhibitions/2003/2003_04/shemesh/shemesh_2003.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> San Francisco, CA, 2003 *Baumgartner Gallery,<ref name="GoodmanJonathan" /> New York, NY, 2002 *Guy McIntyre Gallery,<ref>{{cite news|title=Art Guide|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/05/arts/art-guide.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|newspaper=New York Times|date=December 5, 1997}}</ref> New York, NY, 1997 *Mario Diacono Gallery,<ref>{{cite book|last=Diacono|first=Mario|title=Ophrah Shemesh|year=1995|publisher=Mario Diacono Gallery}}</ref> Boston, MA, 1995 *Galleria S.A.L.E.S.,<ref>{{cite news|last=Coen|first=Vittoria|title=Ophrah Shemesh S.A.L.E.S|newspaper=Flash Art|year=1995}}</ref> Rome, Italy, 1995 *Galleria Philippe Daverio,<ref>{{cite book|last=Daverio|first=Philippe|title=Ophrah|year=1992|publisher=Galleria Philippe Daverio}}</ref> Milan, Italy, 1992

==Reviews== *Tosi, Barbara, “Tanti Retratti di Divi Non Illustri,” ''La Repubblica'', May 24, 1995. *Coen, Vittoria, “Ophrah Shemesh at Galleria S.A.L.E.S.,” ''Flash Art'', 1995. *Sherman, Mary, “Ophrah Shemesh, Mario Diacono,” ''ARTnews'', December 1995. *Ebony, David, “David Ebony’s Top Ten of 1997: Ophrah Shemesh at Guy McIntyre,” ''Artnet'', December 23, 1997. *Gagnier, Bruce Mitchel, “Ophrah Shemesh at Guy McIntyre,” ''Art in America'', September, 1998. *Goodman, Jonathan, “Ophrah Shemesh at Baumgartner,” ''Art in America'', February, 2003. *Amy, Michaël J., “Ophrah Shemesh: Freight + Volume,” ''Art in America'', November, 2008. *Cohen, David, “Deliciously Distressed,” ''New York Sun'', March 13, 2008.

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shemesh, Ophrah}} Category:1952 births Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:20th-century women painters Category:Iraqi Jews Category:Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Category:New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture alumni Category:New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture faculty Category:Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni Category:Living people Category:20th-century American women painters Category:21st-century American women painters Category:American women academics