Remembering with art. Illustration (Photo: Sutterstock)
Amnon Ben Ami named first winner of Elovic Award
Ilana Elovic Bezalel Prize for Painting given to outstanding artist in memory of art patron who died of cancer
Dr. Eugene Elovic, a dentist from Miami, and his family teamed up with the Bezalel Academy of Arts and
Design to launch a new art award. The first winner of the Ilana Elovic Bezalel Prize for Painting is Amnon Ben Ami, an artist from Jerusalem.
Liv Sperber, director of foreign relations in Bezalel, said that Elovic came to them with the story of his wife and the idea for the award. "He thought it would be best to collaborate with us," she said. The Bezalel Academy gives out many awards each year, but most of them are relatively modest. The Elovic award of $20,000 is currently the largest one.
Elovic initiated the award to honor the memory of his late wife, Ilana Elovic, who dedicated her life to art, and died of cancer in 2006. Elovic said he had searched for a dynamic way to commemorate his wife, but felt that a donation to a museum or a gallery was often overlooked by the visitors.
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The judges panel included Bezalel President Prof. Arnon Zuckerman, Chairman of Sotheby's Israel Rivka Saker, art curator Yigal Zalmona, Prof. Nahum Tevet, artist Michal Rovner and a representative of the Elovik family.
The judges explained their choice, saying that Ben Ami's portfolio represented a fascinating artist whose paintings redefine the scope of the genre. "His works are provocatively and poetically rich and show theoretical depth," the judges wrote.
Ben Ami, 41, who graduated from Bezalel in 1986, is a painter and a poet. He decided to apply as a candidate for the award following an online advertisement. "The prize money is very important for me," he said. "In art, one often overlooks the material world, but this kind of award is often crucial."
