Background
He grew up in Kiryat Gat. From an early age, he was drawn to sculpture and spent his free time in his father’s workshop for farming equipment, training in metalwork.
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Aharon Arieh
Edit ProfileEducation
He also studied under sculptor Moshe Shek (Jook) and painter Rafi Mintz.
Career
Aarele Ben Arieh is an Israeli artist and sculptor. After completing his Israel Defense Forces military service in the Airborne Nahal battalion, he joined his friends at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, where he set up a sculpture studio and a workshop for the development and improvement of agricultural machinery. In the early 1980s, Ben Arieh developed close ties with potters and carpenters in the Gaza Strip.
He worked alongside them as an apprentice and considered them his guides and mentors in art
He drew inspiration from Palestinian material culture, the unique colorful paintings of pilgrims returning from Mecca and the vast expanses of sand dunes. Ben Arieh creates outdoor sculptures that create points of contact between the public and the environment.
He specializes in projects that invite physical interaction such as sculpture playgrounds, park shades and public seating. "His point of origin is anchored in the material, or rather in the point where the material and the concept meet.
The what and how go hand in hand.
His pieces consist of dozens of interconnected elements which join to form one flawlessly shaped whole.." (Izika Gaon, Curator of the Israel Museum, at the opening of “The Concept in the Material” exhibition, 1987). Ben Arieh calls himself “The Place Doctor."
His work strives for simplicity and precision that nonetheless makes a powerful statement. Using natural materials, he creates sculptures which make people feel comfortable in their natural environment.
"I endeavor for graceful truth that encourages forgiveness.
My pieces offer a personal experience in both the private and public domain.” Motion and playfulness are central themes in Ben Arieh’s indoor pieces as well as his outdoor work. Thus, he invites the audience to communicate physically and unmediated with his work.
