Micha Ullman ( he, מיכה אולמן, born 1939) is an Israeli sculptor and professor of art. Ulmann1

Biography

Ullman was born in Tel Aviv to German Jews who immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1933.Michal Lando
''Art that hints at big questions,''
The Forward. April 22, 2009 As a teenager, he attended the

Kfar HaYarok HaKfar HaYarok ( he, הכפר הירוק; "The Green Village") is a youth village in Israel, located in southern Ramat HaSharon, along the northern border of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Name Gershon Zak, the founder of the village, called it in 1950 "Gr ...

agricultural school.The Accidental Sculptor

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

In 1960-1964, he studied at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. In 1965, he attended the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, where he learned etching. Ullman is married to Mira, and lives in Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

Academic career

He taught at Bezalel Academy in 1970 - 1978. He became a visiting professor at Academy of Arts Düsseldorf in 1976. He taught at the University of Haifa from 1979 - 1989. He was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the

State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart The State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (German: Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart) is a university in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded on 25 June 1761, and located since 1946 on the Weißenhof, the Academy, whose historical sig ...

from 1991 to 2005.

Artistic career

Ullman created the underground “Empty Library” memorial on

Bebelplatz The Bebelplatz (formerly and colloquially the Opernplatz) is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfa ...

square in Berlin, where the Nazi book burnings began in 1933. The memorial consists of a window on the surface of the plaza, under which vacant bookshelves are lit and visible. A bronze plaque bears a quote by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

: “Where books are burned in the end people will burn.” This memorial was inaugurated in May 1995. (see book burning). Ullman explains: "It begins with the void that exists in every pit and will not disappear. You could say that emptiness is a state, a situation formed by the sides of the pit: The deeper it is, the more sky there will be and the greater the void. In the library containing the missing books, that void is more palpable. We expect he booksbut they are not there." In 1997, Ullman completed a synagogue memorial in collaboration with Zvi Hecker and Eyal Weizmann, commemorating the former Lindenstraße synagogue in Kreuzberg. Another of his creations is "Hochwasser" ("Flooding") on a small island near the Werra River in Germany. It was inspired by a boat Ullman saw there with a sign on it stating it had a capacity of up to seven passengers. Ullman's father, Yitzhak, who had lived nearby, immigrated to Palestine with his seven siblings in 1933. Ullman is represented in the art collection of the

with the representative fourpart work ″Du″, created in 1992 and shown at

Documenta 9 DOCUMENTA IX was the ninth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 13 June and 20 September 1992 in Kassel, Germany. The artistic director was Jan Hoet in collaboration with Bart de Baere, Denys ...

, which was given to the Academy as a permanent loan in 1993 by the Ministry of Science and Art Baden-Württemberg at the suggestion of the former Rector and head of the collection, Wolfgang Kermer.

Sculptural style

Ullman creates subterranean sculptures, some of which barely protrude from the ground. They touch on universal themes such as the meaning of place and home, absence and emptiness. They have been described as simultaneously "celestial and earthbound, metaphysical but sensual and tactile.

Gallery

File:Marl Ullmann 01.JPG, Ground, 1987

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

, Germany File:Micha Ullman.JPG, Havdalah, 1988
iron and gravel
Tefen Open Museum, Israel File:A Chair ullman.JPG, A Chair, 1989
stone
Tel Aviv University, Israel File:Yesod 1989.jpg, Yesod, 1989
concrete and sand
Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel File:B94 0743~Micha Ullmann-Midnight.jpg, Day, Havdalah, Midnight, 1993
Steel plates and sand

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

Collection File:Buecherverbrennung Denkmal Bebelplatz Berlin.jpg, "

The Empty Library ''The Empty Library'' (1995), also known as ''Bibliothek'' or simply ''Library,'' is a public memorial by Israeli sculptor Micha Ullman dedicated to the remembrance of the Nazi book burnings that took place in the Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany ...

" - a Memorial for the Nazi book burning, 1995

, Berlin, Germany File:Lola Beer Ebner Sculpture Garden 018.jpg, Window, 1999
Concrete, iron and glass
Tel Aviv Museum of Art File:Pillar by Micha Ullman.JPG, Pillar, 1995
Iron File:Equinox 001.jpg, Equinox, 2005-9
Concrete and glass

Collection

Education

* 1960-1964 Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Academy, Jerusalem * 1965 Central School of Arts and Crafts, London

Teaching

* 1970-1978 Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, drawing, basic design and etching * 1976 Guest lecturer at Fine Arts Academy, Düsseldorf * 1979 Haifa University, basic design, drawing, three-dimensional design * 1979-1985 Faculty of Architecture, Technion, Haifa * 1991–2005

, sculpture

Awards

Ullman was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for sculpture in April 2009.

Awards and Prizes

* 1963 Sonborn Prize, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem * 1972 The Beatrice S. Kolliner Award for a Young Israeli Artist, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel * 1980 The

Sandberg Prize The Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art refers to a prize for art and design awarded at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, with a particular focus on Israeli art. The prize was inaugurated in 1968 with funds from an anonymous New York–based donor. The pr ...

for Israeli Art, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel * 1985 Mendel Pundik Prize, Tel Aviv Museum * 1989 Annual Scholarship, DAAD, Berlin * 1995 Käthe Kollwitz Prize, Academy of Arts, Berlin * 1996 Zussman Prize, Yad Vashem * 1996 Member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin * 1997 - פרס החברה לתרבות ולשלום בינלאומי, עמאן, ירדן. * 1998 Janet and George Jarin Prize, America Israel Cultural Foundation * 2000 Gamzu Prize and Aftovitzer Fund, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv * 2004 Awarded Honorary Ph.D, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem * 2005 Hans-Thoma-Preis, Staatspreis des Landes Baden - Wurttemberg, Germany * 2009 Israel Prize for Sculpture * 2010 Gerhard- Altenbourg-Preis, Lindenau Museum Altenburg * 2011 Moses-Mendelssohn-Preis des Landes Berlin, Germany

Outdoor and Public Art

* 1983 Sky, limestone, Tel Hai, Israel * 1984 Ben Hinnom Valley, iron and cable, Jerusalem * 1984 Lot's Wife, earth, Mt. Sodom, Israel * 1989 Jesod (Foundation), cement and sand, Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv * 1991 Schodnia (East), asphalt, Lodz, Poland * 1992 Sea Level, cast iron, sandstone and glass, 22 Allenby St., Tel Aviv * 1992 Niemand, corten steel and red loam,

Gropius Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition building in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstr ...

, Berlin, Germany * 1995 Bibliothek, cement and glass, Bebelplatz, Berlin, Germany * 1996-1997 Water, Zion Square, West Jerusalem and Freres Street, East Jerusalem

References

External links

* * *
Official site of Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ullman, Micha 1939 births Living people Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design faculty Israel Prize in sculpture recipients Israeli Jews Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Israeli sculptors Jewish sculptors Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin People from Tel Aviv Sandberg Prize recipients