Biography
Rafi Münz ( רפי מינץ) comes to us from the village of Givat Ada in northern Israel where he has lived for more than 25 years. He is a freelance artist and teacher working as a painter, sculptor, illustrator, calligrapher, and printmaker. His works deal with social, political and ecological agendas–expressing these through the personal experiences of daily living rather than global events.
Rafi’s work and studies have taken him all over the world, beginning with The Bezalel School of art in Jerusalem and continuing with a Masters of Fine Art from the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He also developed a specialty in printmaking from the Kunstneijverheid School in Amsterdam and Goldsmith’s College in London. He co-founded the Old Jaffa Artists’ Colony in Tel Aviv in 1964 and was active as an artist there for 30 years before becoming the managing director of the Kibbutz Art Studios.
Heritage, Studies, Technique, Experience… these are words Rafi uses to describe himself. But he finishes by saying: “The bottom line: Whenever possible, I try to take myself less seriously.”
During his residency, Münz led a workshop exploring the uses of found garbage as initiative & material for art works. They collected materials from recycling bins and transformed these materials into a mean for personal expression.
For his final event, Münz exhibited his installation “Site specific = Spiritual Ecology & Spring of Creativity.” Drawings, photos & texts formed the basis for a series of paintings/collages interlacing Münz’s experience of the Garden City community with the intentions & choices of the locals who guided him. He recruited individuals of variable ages, gender, and lifestyles to serve as his guides–emphasizing aesthetic views, feelings, and thoughts about recycling and sustainable living. The result was exhibited as several “autonomies”- telling peoples’ stories interwoven with his reaction to them. He used as many recycled materials as possible in the construction of his work.
Gallery
