Israeli Art - Local Art Between Wars, 1967-1982

Local Art Between Wars, 1967-1982

Until the 1970s, mainstream Israeii art dealt with a broad artistic and personal spectrum but, for the most part, ignored political issues. Even artists who portrayed cultural or Jewish content in their works were considered anachronistic by the artistic establishment of the time.

In the 1960s American artistic influences began to reach Israel, especially abstract expressionism, pop art, and later, even the art pauvre of conceptual art. In addition to bringing new artistic forms, these influences also introduced a direct engagement with political and social issues. Events of The Six Day War and The Yom Kippur War intensified these influences and led to a variety of politically charged artistic expressions which became the trademark of an entire generation of younger artists. Under the influence of American conceptual art, there even developed among Israeli artists a tendency to emphasize the dimension of artistic creativity, that is, the "ars poetica" discourse, and how it is perceived by the viewer of art within society. In this spirit, artistic activity in Israel was often seen to be part of the country's social-political reality.