Celebrated Israeli artist to conduct workshops, display work

by | Sep 28, 2018 | Featured

Israel Today’s first ever artist-in-residence, Hanoch Piven, will lead a variety of workshops for people of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities, as well as display his work in the Leon Family Gallery during his two-week Tidewater visit, October 15–October 26.

Piven’s portraits have appeared in Rolling Stone, Time, and other major international publications.

He will lead workshops for young Jewish leaders, seasoned Jewish communal leaders from agency and synagogue boards, students at the Strelitz Early Childhood Center and Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, BBYO teens, seniors engaged in the JCC’s monthly Senior’s Club, speak with members of the Community Relations Council about his work using art as a communication tool as a way for bridge building through his fellowship with Seeds of Peace, as well as lead a Family Portrait Workshop during the UJFT’s annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon on October 21, 2018.

In addition, Piven will spend time at Title 1 schools, give some university lectures and workshops (one on the topic of genocide and education surrounding it) and go to public and private schools. He will also lead a parent lecture (the power of creativity, art, and play in education) open to the entire Hampton Roads community, at Cape Henry Collegiate.

For young professionals involved with the Hampton Roads Chamber through tHRive, and some other non-profits they partner with, Piven will lead a workshop focused on identity. The list goes on and on.

Last month, Jewish News caught up with Hanoch Piven by phone from his Tel Aviv studio.

Jewish News: Do you have a favorite piece?

Hanoch Piven: Honestly, not really.

The nature of my artwork is that one piece makes the other better, just as good color combinations work.

I really enjoy looking at many together, and also different stations in my development. For example, I enjoy looking together at some of my early school work like the Jesse Jackson portrait, together with early professional pieces like Barbra Streisand and Einstein, some Israeli political pieces such as Sarah Netanyahu or Ariel Sharon, and more recent pieces like Obama’s, Trump or Darwin. They span over 25 years of work! I must be getting old!

JN: Do you recall a favorite or most memorable or most challenging assignment?

HP: One memorable piece was the Kim Jong Il portrait for Time magazine and the fact that it was created in 36 hours. It was done right after North Korea executed a nuclear test and I ran to the market in Barcelona (where I was living at the time), to get some mushrooms.

JN: How do participants react to your workshops? In other words, are they amazed at what they can do? What do they learn?

HP: I am very proud of having left almost 20 years ago, the solitude of the studio, for the opportunity to meet people of diverse backgrounds and ages who attend my workshops. It has been a blast watching, probably by now, tens of thousands of people who have created pieces of art using a method of work that I had previously developed in order to overcome my own technical difficulties.

People enter a fun childish place, which they usually do not go into, express through art something really personal and end up being proud of their creations, and most important of all, they really want to share and talk about them. The more I think of it, the more I see that what people learn is to pay attention, to see, which is something basic and simple, yet most people are so dependent on the preconceptions they carry within, that they fail to see what is in front of them.

Trash or treasure? Junk needed!

Hanoch Piven’s hands-on workshops encourage creativity, communication, and self-reflection through the creation of collages with common, everyday objects. Piven conveys the message that playfulness is an important tool to be used to generate a space in which individual self-reflection and growth are possible.

In order to have a workshop based on found objects, a lot of random objects are required. Everything from buttons, labels, packaging, and keys to stickers, stamps, and small toys will come in handy.

A collection box is located in the Cardo at the Simon Family JCC to drop off donations of “junk” to ensure that everyone finds what they need.

Hanoch Piven: Israel Today’s Artist-in-Residence

Around Town

JCC Seniors Club Presents: What’s Your Story?

Lecture and workshop

Wednesday, October 17, 12 pm

Family Portrait Workshop as part of UJFT’s Super Sunday

Sunday, October 21, 10 am and 12 pm

BBYO Presents: Teen Leadership Workshop

Sunday, October 21, 2 pm

Art Educators Workshop

Monday, October 22, 5:30 pm

The power of creativity and play in education, a lecture for parents

Tuesday, October 23, 7 pm

Contact Leigh Casson at LCasson@ujft.org or 321-2304 for location details or to reserve a seat (required) at any of these events around town.