Haifa painted by local artists

Yesterday I visited an exhibition entitled "Haifa From Here" at the Karo Arts Gallery. This focused on paintings of Haifa by local Haifa artists. In this exhibition, all the artists were immigrants from various parts of the former Soviet Union. Each artist was represented by 2-4 paintings. Some were realistic, others more impressionistic. The scenes showed included places I recognized and some of Haifa's typical buildings and views. There seemed to be a greater focus on the mountain than the sea, and all the paintings captured different aspects of Haifa's unique character, as a wooded city on a mountain, with a rich diversity of architectural styles and residents.

I was particularly impressed by the work of Victor Muchin (b. 1949), who grew up in Tajikistan and immigrated to Israel in 1992. His style is realistic, with surrealistic influences, and his paintings are done from life, not from photos. Four works were shown in the exhibition, and I hope to be able to see more of his work in the future.


The other artists represented were: Andrei Chrenekov, who was born in Russia in 1969 and immigrated to Israel at an early age. He is an artist, graphic designer and also works as a set designer in cinema and television. His style was a bit more impressionistic. This view of the wooded slopes of the Carmel is the sort of panorama I often see from various parts of the city.





Oxana Molojanova was born in Kiev in 1964 and has been living in Israel since 1995. I understand that she has only been painting for the past six years or so, and has not had formal training. Her paintings were impressionistic, and characterized by vivid colours. Here she depicts some of the typical old houses and stairways of Haifa.







Boris Arenhause was born in the Ukraine in 1938 and came to Israel in 1994. His painting shows a view towards the Haifa port, with the sparkles of light echoing the lines of the cranes in the port.









Tatiana Belokonenko has been in Israel since 1999, and is also a designer and set designer. Her paintings are atmospheric. The night view from her home seemed very familiar to me, showing the mixture of trees, houses and lights on the Carmel.

Robert Rozenberg was born in Kazakhstan in 1962 and came to Israel in 1994. His painting of the Kishon port, with a view of Mount Carmel in the background, was the only picture really showing the sea and Haifa's maritime aspect.




I highly recommend this exhibition, which will be open until September 11, 2009, at Karo Arts Gallery, 19 Jerusalem St., Haifa. The gallery itself is in a lovely building in the historic Hadar neighbourhood.