Uri Katzenstein

Uri Katzenstein (born 1951) (Hebrew: אורי קצנשטיין) is a prominent Israeli sculptor, visual artist, musician, builder of musical instruments and sound machines, and film maker.

Background

Uri was born in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1951. In his youth, he played music and joined several rock bands. In 1969, he joined the Israeli Defense Forces and fought in the Yom Kippur War. During the late seventies of the 20th century, Uri studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and after receiving his MFA moved to New York City where he lived and worked throughout the eighties. His early works, starting from the late seventies, involved different avant-garde media exhibits, music, performance, video and sound art. In the mid-nineties of the 20th century, he began creating sculptured figurines, in addition to objects and sound machines which were all merged and composed as one time-based viewing / listening events.

Career

After returning to Israel, he and Noam HaLevi created the show "Midas". In 1993 he took part in the rock opera "Samara" by Hallel Mitelpunkt and the band Nikmat HaTraktor. In 1999, he published a music album, along with Ohad Fishof, entitled "Skin O Daayba", which served as a basis for a musical performance. In 2001, he created the show "Home" along with Renana Raz and Ohad Fishof. In the early two-thousands he began to create video art consisting of surreal events while emphasizing subject matter of personal identity. Among his notable works are "Patʹshegen" (Hebrew: פתשגן)(1993) and "Family of Brothers" (Hebrew: משפחת האחים)(2000). His early performance work was regularly presented at such legendary performance venues as The Kitchen, No-Se-No, 8BC and Danceteria. His work in sculpture, video and installation have been exhibited in museums such as The Russian State Museum (St. Petersburg), The Chelsea Art Museum (New York), Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, The Israel Museum, Duke University Museum of Art (North Carolina). Katzenstein participated in the Sao Paulo Biennale (1991), the Venice Biennale (2001), the Buenos Aires Biennale (first prize, 2002), and the 9th Istanbul Biennale (2005). His performance work was shown in theatres and galleries in London, Berlin, San Francisco, Cardiff (Wales), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), New York, and Tel Aviv.

Today, Uri Katzenstein lectures in the Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Haifa.

Awards

Katzenstein has received the following awards:

• 1982 Creativity Encouragement Award, Israeli Ministry of Education
• 1989 Work Completion Award, Israeli Ministry of Education
• 1992 Grant, The America-Israel Cultural Foundation
• 1998 Grant for Creators in the field of Visual Arts, Israeli Ministry of Education
• 2000 Isracart Award, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
• 2001 Biennale Award, Israeli Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Italy
• 2002 1st prize, Biennale of Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2014 Dan Sandler and Sandler Foundation Award for Sculpting, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Books

• ha-Biʼanaleh ha-benleʼumit ha-21 shel San-Paʼulo 1991, Yiśraʼel (1991). by Nurit Daṿid, Yehoshuʻa Borḳovsḳi, Yiśraʼel Rabinovits, Uri Ḳatzenstein OCLC 58404699
• פתשגן / Patʹshegen (1993). by Uri Katzenstein ISBN 978-965-278-130-7
• Uri Katzenstein : missive : The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, (1993). by Uri Katzenstein OCLC 600838262
• Families (2000). by Uri Katzenstein; Duke University. Evans Family Cultural Residency Program. OCLC 49932271
• Uri Katzenstein : home : Venice Biennale 2001, the Israeli Pavilion (2001). by Uri Katzenstein; Yigal Zalmona; Ishai Adar; Binya Reches OCLC 753440505
• Hope machines (2007). by Uri Katzenstein; Merkaz le-omanut ʻakhshaṿit (Tel Aviv, Israel) OCLC 477287150

External Links

• Uri Katzenstein on ArtLab
• Uri Katzenstein / BACKYARD exhibit on PINZETA
• Uri Katzenstein at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
• Uri Katzenstein on TimeOut
• Uri Katzenstein at the Haifa Museum of Art
• Prof. Uri Katzenstein lecturer page at the University of Haifa
• Uri Katzenstein on Mediations Biennale 2010 (Poland)