Moshe Ravid

Architect Moshe Ravid, now 93, dreamed of becoming a painter as a child, but it was not until he was 88 that he informed the clients of his architectural firm that he was no longer accepting clients, closing the doors of the firm and making painting his main occupation. Since then, he has painted hundreds of works, held solo exhibitions, participated in group exhibitions and was accepted into the Professional Association of Plastic Artists in Israel. He immigrated to Israel at the age of 14 on a ship carrying illegal immigrants that was deported by the British to Cyprus. After six months in a detention camp, in the summer of 1947, his Zionist dream came true and he entered the gates of the country In his paintings, in all the genres in which he paints, he tells stories he invented, experiences he had or an opinion he found appropriate to express. He usually tries to bring interesting events that can be interpreted differently according to the observer's perspective. In many works, he manages to include a mythical tone. Moshe usually paints series of oil paintings on canvas on various topics, personal, social and political. Thus, on topics such as: wrinkles, relationships, returning to childhood, medicine, the end of the road and more; or the series of paintings "Escape" currently on display (May 2026) at the Palmach House Museum, depicting the experiences of a Zionist family between the years 1938 - 1948. The last painting in this series, depicting the fulfillment of a Zionist dream, was donated and is displayed at the President's House. Besides working with oil paints, Moshe also works with other techniques, including unconventional ones. For example, the 260 x 100 cm triptych "Storm, Peace and What's in Between" painted with ties glued to canvas in the group exhibition "The Language of Matter" at the "HaMahmet" Gallery in Ramat Hasharon. Here, at the "Less than 1000" Gallery, Ravid finds it appropriate to mainly present part of a large series of collages that he has been working on for the past two years. To understand the body of his collage works, it is worth reading some of the criticism that has already been written about him: Moshe has presented several solo exhibitions, each of which dealt with different topics and demonstrated mastery of diverse techniques. His artistic work is characterized by constant innovation. In this series of collages, Moshe has become more coherent about the technique and themes he wishes to present. These works are in fact layered collages and allow him to tell a story with "multiple voices", each layer can represent a different aspect of the story, or a complex part of a larger narrative. For Moshe Ravid, who comes from the worlds of design and architecture, fields of assembly, creating space and visual storytelling, the transition to multi-layered collages is a natural crystallization that allows him to merge all his extensive experience into a rich and authentic personal work. This series of collages is the culmination of a creative process that allows him to unravel and reconnect his worldview, and to give his work a unique depth and multi-voice.