Ruven Kuperman
Born 1964 in Kishinev, USSR (now Moldova), lives and works in Tel Aviv.
The portraits and scenes in Ruven Kuperman's paintings and drawings incorporate details from his personal life with figures and icons from Russian prison tattoos, Japanese culture, and the Premodern period.
Kuperman holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York (1993) and a B.A. in art and philosophy from Haifa University. He has received the Ministry of Culture prize for plastic art in 2016 and the Rosenblatt Award for Visual Art in 2019. Selected solo shows of his works were presented at the Tel Aviv Museum, Wilfrid Museum-Hazorea, Janco Dada Museum in Ein Hod, RawArt Gallery, Kit Schulte Contemporary Art in Berlin, Rosenfeld Gallery, Kibbutz Be'eri Gallery, and the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia, USA. His work has been included in many group shows, in art institutions such as the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, the Odessa Biennale for Contemporary Art, Bezalel's graduates' gallery in Tel Aviv, Salon d'art contemporain in Monaco, Cain Schulte Contemporary Art in San Francisco and the Haifa University gallery. He participated in artists' residency programs in Hangzhou, China (2012), and Singapore (2000).
Exhibitions at RawArt Gallery
Education
1992-1993 MFA, School of Visual Arts, New York
1991 Graduate studies in Photography, TSU, Towson, MD
1990-1991 Graduate studies in Photography, GWU, Washington DC
1986-1989 B.A in Art and Philosophy, Haifa University, Haifa
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 Shadows, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, curated by: Aya Lurie
2023 Forest, RawArt Gallery, Tel Aviv
2020 Portairt of an Outlaw, The Artists' House, Tel Aviv, curated by: Orly Hoffman
2020 Anatomy of a Killer, RawArt Gallery, curated by: Maya Bamberger (Catalog)
2018 Assassins, RawArt Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Leah Abir (Catalog)
2016 On Dragons, Samurai, and Dim Sum, Wilfrid Israel Museum, curated by: Shir Meller-Yamaguchi (Catalog)
2016 Не Буди, RawArt Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Leah Abir
2012 New Mythologies, Kit Schulte Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2008 The "One Piece" Project, Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Diana Dallal
2006 Portraits, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, curated by: Mordechai Omer (Catalog)
2006 April, Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Diana Dallal
2000 Busts, Golconda Fine Art Ltd, Tel Aviv
1999 In Out, Kibbutz Beery Gallery, Kibbutz Beery, curated by: Ziva Yelin
1997 The first egg laid at the Janco Dada, Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod, curated by: Boaz Tal
1993 Decadence, De Compression Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
1992 Armageddon, In Time Art Salon, Washington DC
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Duo, Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, curated by: Dr Eti Glass Gisis
2019 First Person, Singular, Ashdod Art Museum, Ashdod, curated by: Yuval Beaton and Roni Cohen-Binyamini (Catalog)
2019 Photo Album, Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Yael Efrati, Rami Maymon and David Adika
2019 Raw Art, RawArt Gallery, Tel Aviv, curated by: Maya Bamberger
2017 Ministry of Culture award winers exhibition, MoBY, Bat Yam (Catalog)
2016 Draw to Perform, Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Petach Tikva Museum of Art
2016 The Naked Gun, P8 Gallery, Tel Aviv
2016 A Russian Tale, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
2015 IV Odessa Biennale of Contemporary Art, Odessa, Ukraine
2013 Tattoos - Tattoo Representations in Contemporary Art / The Body, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva (Catalog)
2013 Cutlug Paris 2013, Paris, France
2012 Fresh Prints, Feinberg Projects, Tel Aviv
2011 Magna Carta, Kit Schulte Contemporary Art, Berlin
2010 Artmonaco '10, Salon d'art contemporain, Monaco (Catalog)
2010 Magna Carta, Cain Schulte contemporary art, San Francisco, CA
2009 Traditions Contemporaneity, Third Moscow international festival of art, Moscow, Russia (Catalog)
2009 Cockeye: Male nude in contemporary Israeli art, Gal-On, Tel Aviv
2007 This is not an Israeli art, Tmuna, Tel Aviv, curated by: Maayan Amir
2003 Food in Art: A Matter of Taste, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2003 Contemporary work from Private Israeli Collection, Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL
2003 Playboyz, Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod (Catalog)
2001 Portrait of a State, Starr Gallery, Boston, MA
1999 Explosive Drawing, Hamumheh Alternative space, Tel Aviv (Catalog)
1998 Ethno Dance, Abu Kabir Community Center, Tel Aviv (Catalog)
1997 Art in the University 1969-1967, Haifa University, Haifa (Catalog)
1996 International Festival of Performance, Jerusalem
1996 Virtual Reality, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (Catalog)
1994 Hair: The Long and Short of, Smithtown Township Arts Council, St. James, NY
1994 Sex, Obsession and Death, Art Workers Union, Memphis, TN
1994 The Fat Show, Michael Clark Gallery, Washington, D.C
1993 Playground, Dedicated Space, Brooklyn, NY
1993 M.F.A. Thesis show, Visual Arts Gallery, New York
1993 The Photographic Object, Washington Center for Photography, Washington, D.C.
1993 Walk the Goddess Walk, DC-AC, Washington, D.C.
1992 Beyond Reality., In Time Art Salon, Washington, D.C.
1991 Photographer’s Forum Annual, Santa Barbara, CA
1991 David Lloyd Kreeger Prize, Dimock Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1990 Adler prize, Haifa University, Haifa
Selected Grants & Awards
2024 The Discount Artistic Encouragement Award,
2022 The Minister of Culture's Award, Ministry of Culture
2019 Ann and Ari Rosenblatt Prize for Visual Art, Israel
2016 Ministry of Culture Prize to Encourage Creativity, Israel
Selected Residencies & Fellowships
2012 Artist in residence, Hangzhou, China
2000 Artist in residence, Singapore
Selected Press
2024 Naama Riba, Ruven Kuperman: "Art today is didactic, mediocre, afraid of nudity", Haaretz, 31/7/2024, (Heb)
2022 Ouzi Tzur, Room of Wonders : Reivew of " Solo Exhibtion, 'Stars', Haaretz, 21/9/22, ((Heb))
2021 Naama riba, "He's timeless. He was here before us.", Gallery Magazine, 8.2.21, (Heb)
2020 Gilad Melzer, Portrait of an Outlaw - Exhibition Review, Haaretz, 26.2.20, (Heb)
2020 Hagit Peleg Rotem, A conversation with Ruven Kuperman, Portfolio, 24.12.2020, (Heb)
2016 Galia Yahav, From Russia With Ambivalence: Tel Aviv Portrait Exhibition Is Scattered, but Not Without Gems, Haaretz, 26.4.16, (Eng)
2012 Irmgard Berner, Von Manga bis Kabuki, Berliner Zeitung, 9.2.12, (German)
2011 Angela Levine, Hungry Eye, The Jerusalem Post Magazine, 2011, (Eng)
2010 Ellie Armon Azoulay, Studio visit, 2.4.10
2006 Tali Cohen Garbuz, Review of Ruven's solo show at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Ynet, 25.10.06, (Heb)
2006 Leora Lopian, The body doesn’t lie, The City, 3.11.06, (Heb)
1996 Angela Levine, Terminal Art, The Jerusalem Post Magazine, 28.8.1996, (Eng)
1996 Mariam Izrael, Food, Come on, Food, The Jerusalem Post, 1996, (Heb)
1996 Galia Yahav, No Place Like Home, 8.11.1996, (Heb)
1996 Smadar Sheffi, Exhibition Review, Haaretz, 3.11.1996, (Heb)
1996 Smadar Sheffi, The Best Show in Town, Haaretz, 18.8.1996, (Heb)
1995 Levia Stern, Closed by Police Intervention, Davar Sheni, 1.11.1995, (Heb)
1993 Lee Fleming, Mosaic of Place and Perspective, The Washington Post, 4.9.1993, (Eng)
1991 Mary McCoy, Artists Go Through a Lens, Creatively, The Washington Post, 19.12.1991, (Eng)
Collections
Knesset, Israel
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
Private collections