Peter Jacob Maltz

Peter Jacob Maltz
Peter Jacob Maltz
	Peter Jacob Maltz
Born	1973; England
Nationality	Israeli, Jewish
Education	Royal College of Art
Known for	Sculpture
Movement	Israeli art

Peter Jacob Maltz (born 26 June 1973) is an Israeli artist born in England. Maltz combines in his works of art, abstract and narrated motifs. His work deals with documentation of humanistic, theological, and political aspects in the day to day.

Biography

Peter Jacob Maltz was born on 1973 in London, the son of Stephen and Susan Maltz. In 1977, he immigrated to Israel with his family. He was raised in Ramat Hasharon in a Traditional and English-speaking family. Since his childhood Maltz was intrigued with aspects of Identity, Religion and Faith. Those aspects found their way to his artistic work.

As a teenager, Maltz studied art in "Alon" high school at Ramat Hasharon. His experiences as young man had an influence on his artistic path. Those experiences included his army service and his younger brother's death. Before his BFA studies Maltz learnt stone carving in south India and grew closer to Buddhism. He studied art at Bezalel art Academy in Jerusalem and was influenced by artists such as Larry Abramson, Nahum Tevet and Pesach Slabosky.

While establishing a personal visual language during his studies, Maltz studied art education, researched the implications of the Post-Modern era, Strategies of documentation and worked as an exhibition producer at the Israel museum.

In 2002 Maltz held his first Solo exhibition at the Artist's Studios in Tel Aviv. The foundations of his artists characteristics can be recognized from this exhibition. Use of variety Artistic styles, Bridging the personal with the communal, using art as a form of documentation, Drawing inspiration from Religious subjects and Literature and using irony and humor as means to convey complex messages.

In 2005 Maltz completed his master's degree in sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London.^[1] At the graduation show he exhibited a large relief and a series of drawings. This exhibition set the foundations of an ongoing preoccupation with reliefs that aspire to bridge the physical space to metaphysical sensations. It was also the basis of creating series of drawings to depict an allegorical narrative. From this year on, Maltz perceives his creative activity as a holistic documentary project. A sequence of moments that create a single chronicle.

In 2006 he began his social activity. He created artistic projects with children in Jaffa and Ofakim. In 2011, Maltz published the book "Roots", in it appeared ink drawing that accompanied the text. The book tells the story of David, a lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. David descends from Jerusalem towards Tel Aviv after his day of work. His car breaks down near the village of Shoresh. While he waits for the towing, he decides to climb Mount Shoresh, where he meets the figure of Jacob. Jacob preaches his views on faith and existence to David and tells him that he was educated as a "New Essenes". Following this encounter, David undergoes a change and returns to his life.

The drawings in the books were inspired by the works of Ephraim Moshe Lilien that were combined with photographs taken by Maltz in Jerusalem and in the "Sha'ar Hagai" valley. This book is an interim summary and culmination of Maltz's work on the topic of Allegorical journey's. In the book ideas relating to his personal life, religious Fundamentalism, faith and art, New Age, Jerusalem and neo-Zionism were intertwined.

In January 2012 he created the project "Undercurrent". Maltz created a drawing a day and uploaded it to Facebook. The drawings responded to his personal life, to the Israeli art field and to the Israeli reality. The drawings were exhibited at Kibbutz Gallery in 2013.

In 2015, Maltz created a large-sized relief, "One Day Passes and Another Day Comes", which is exhibited at the Israel Museum. For the preparation of the relief, Maltz went on a ten-day journey from his home in Kadima to the specified exhibition wall at the Israel Museum. On his way, he created multiple imprints of textures and objects using clay from which he prepared casts. After the journey he connected all the casts to sixteen panels which were then hung on a wall to create one work. The work depicts a road map and a compression of the journey that occurred over space and time to one place and time – the wall in the museum.

Gallery

Trial 2004, Ink and Glass paint on paper
Lying in the bath and thinking of the massacre of the innocent, 2005, Tiles, mirrors, cement, towels and soap. The Reynolds Foundation collection. London
From Here to There, 2010, Oil on steps, Wadi Nisnas, Haifa
Drawing, from artist book, 2011. Israel museum collection, Jerusalem
The Meeting point, 2011, Cement, Musrara, Jerusalem
27.3, Morning walk with the dog, 2012, Coloured pencil on paper
Omphalos, Cement, Jerusalem
One day passes and another day comes, 2015, The Israel museum collection, Jerusalem