Bonsai trees gardens bridges parks and in Suzhou city China (2022) Painting by Raphael Perez

Raphael Perez is an Israeli painter who specializes in naive paintings. He created a series of works for the Biennale at Jinji Lake Suzhou China. Raphael painted four huge paintings of 2 and a half meters. The most famous painting is “Bonsai Gardens” where he depicted the famous canals of the city with its bridges and iconic buildings from the city’s glorious past and towers and skyscrapers of the present. Another painting is named “Shanghai” where he painted the famous promenade with its skyscrapers and buildings. The painting depicts the night with lanterns and combines the modern part of the city with magnificent monuments from the past, such as temples located in the lake, traditional dragon boats, statues placed in the city and other well-known landmarks. The third painting is of “Beijing World Park” where he drew over 40 monumental buildings in a naive style. In this painting, Raphael gives everyone an identification with many buildings that everyone knows. The fourth painting is called “Suzhou Avenue” and is a colorful painting with strong contrasts of warm colors in red, orange, yellow against a background of trees and green grass with a clear sky that infuses an atmosphere of calmness to the intense colors. In this painting, Raphael rebuilds the city and plans the boulevard with low iconic buildings in front and skyscrapers behind them.

[9:46, 15.6.2023] raphaelperezpainter: Tell me a little about yourself?
I was born in Jerusalem - Israel in 1965 and from 1996 I live and work in the city of Tel Aviv
At the age of 24, I started my art studies at the College of Visual Arts in the city of Beer Sheva. I studied in the years 1989-1992

What is the idea of the exhibition in China?
My idea is to create a positive meeting of cultures and a display of the beautiful, stimulating, intriguing, naive, innocent and special urban urban landscape that exists in each and every country and through this create the meeting connecting China and Israel.
We are at the beginning of a cultural meeting between Israel and China, it is like first love where the page is clean without sediment, and the relationship is built on the basis of mutual respect and appreciation of each other's culture.


Tell us about your work process as a naive painter?
I created 4 naive paintings (and there may be more in the sequel) of cities in China, a painting of Shanghai, two paintings of the city of Suzhou and a painting of the World Park in the city of Beijing...
The idea that accompanied me in creating these 4 works and in the rest of the works I do is to rebuild and plan the city in the most optimistic and beautiful way possible, I choose the most iconic and famous buildings in each and every city that are architecturally interesting and have a special shape and place the iconic buildings in boulevards full of trees, bushes, vegetation, flowers,
To give depth to the painting, I build the painting with layers of vegetation, after that low famous buildings, followed by a tall avenue of trees, and behind them towers and skyscrapers, in the sky I sometimes put naive signs of balloons, kites,
Recurring motifs in some of my paintings is the figure of the painter who is in the center of the boulevard and paints the whole scene unfolding in front of him, also there are two kindergarten teachers walking with kindergarten children with the flags of the country I paint, and loving couples hugging and kissing and family paintings of mother, father and child walking in harmony on the boulevard,
Most naive paintings have the same characteristics
(Definition as it appears in Wikipedia)
Telling a simple story to absorb from everyday life, usually with humans.
Representing the painter's idealization of reality - beautifying reality.
Failure to maintain perspective - especially details even in distant details.
Extensive use of repeating patterns - many details.
Warm and bright colors.
Sometimes emphasis on outlines.
Most of the figures are flat, lacking volume
There is no interest in texture, expression, correct proportions
No interest in anatomy.
There is not much use of light and shadow, the colors create a three-dimensional effect.


Tell me about the artist's books that you present at the exhibition?
I made 40 artist books of different sizes, some of them notebooks and diaries (not shown in the exhibition) which I wrote back in my youth about the struggles of my sexual identity, I wanted to hide the text about the homosexual tendencies so I started drawing on the notebooks and diaries, later I enjoyed the visual experience more than the textual one so I focused on making Sketch books, collages with original drawings and the books have become a visual experience that is presented to you.


Tell me about the series of couple paintings of a man and a woman that are in the exhibition?
My work is very diverse, I have always painted in two styles at the same time, naive painting and painting in a realistic style that deals with the subject of relationships, relationships and love, of heterosexual couples, gays and lesbians, in my youth to realize and justify my choice of male partners I painted very charged relationships between men and women When you see scenes of estrangement between the man and the woman, over the years when I am in a happy relationship with Assaf Henigsberg, my partner for the past 10 years, and in terms of close friends, I am surrounded mainly by the company of mature, intelligent and mature women... I am not conflicted with heterosexual relationships and see in them a beauty that I have not seen before ... I am in a happy relationship with a man but I see my older single gay friends in crisis, when this is a society that sanctifies the worship of youth, beauty, thinness and less the knowledge of each other's inner soul...
In contrast, heterosexual couples in my environment accept with greater understanding the changes of age, puberty and old age...


What makes you happy?
Over the years, I understand that the relationship is the most precious thing to me, my partner Assaf Henigsberg, my love, fills my emotional and cultural world, a true angel - this is the most beautiful gift the world has given me... I discovered that a good relationship fertilizes the creative world, it makes us happier, Happy, calm, focused on action and work

How is your experience presenting for the first time in China?
The museum staff was very kind, tolerant, explained in great detail the process of transferring the works, organized the art biennial in an exemplary manner, and the organization of the solo exhibition,
Thank you for the wonderful documentation of the hanging of the works, the shipment, the exhibition, the articles, etc...
[9:47, 15.6.2023] raphaelperezpainter: What do you think about China-Israel relations?
China is already marking itself as a power (not the next one, it is already a power) both economically and politically.
Its influence on movements in the world between countries is enormous and there are still bright years ahead of it.
We saw it in the resolution of the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia and who knows, maybe they will contribute their part to the resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians..
Or between Israel and Saudi Arabia which share many common interests..
Or who knows, maybe in the future there will be peace between Israel and Iran


China and Israel share many things in common such as a very ancient history of thousands of years, a tolerant attitude, and a desire to resolve conflicts non-violently.
These are two hardworking peoples, with work discipline, creativity, and aspiration for excellence

China and Israel do not have a conflicted past like with Europe, where the Holocaust took place, or the United States, with whom we have special and excellent relations, but they are also symbiotic relations, with the United States dictating to Israel how to conduct its foreign policy, and it should set out independently in a respectful manner.

What can China contribute to Israel and Israel to China?
In Israel the cost of living is enormous, it is one of the most expensive countries in the world and the products imported from China can lower the price level, already now the direct trade between the Israeli customer and sites like "Ali Express" are huge and there is even greater potential.

...
Israel is currently investing tens of billions in building railway infrastructure and China can take a central part in this with its vast knowledge and experience and the speed of project execution.
There is a problem with housing prices in Israel, which are among the highest in the world - a small three-room apartment in Tel Aviv starts at a price of one and a half million dollars.
Chinese construction companies can reduce the construction price and time rationing of the duration of the projects (in Israel there is bureaucracy and delay in completing infrastructures)
In the field of transportation and transportation, China has one of the most innovative Haifa ports in the world.
Israel can be a central hub of traffic from Asia to Europe through the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan and the ports of Haifa and Ashdod are the gateways to Europe and the Middle East basin.

The Israeli economy is one of the largest in the world with a GNP of over 50,000 dollars per capita and the forecast is for great growth (also following the discovery of gas, increased defense exports, and one of the best high-tech industries in the world) and the trade relations that are already good can grow many times over...... More and more Israeli importers are purchasing many products from the Chinese market.
The Chinese government's decision to invest in high technology is a wise decision and puts Chinese products in the first row with the West (I have been purchasing the most advanced Xiaomi cell phone for many years and its performance is even better than any other cell phone)

Israel can contribute to China mainly in the field of science, technology, computing and as a start-up nation to produce amazing cooperation in this field...

The Israeli audience invests tens of billions a year, travel expenses in the countries of the world (because a vacation in Israel is very expensive) and the shekel is a strong and expensive currency
Any country you go to vacation in, it is much cheaper than the value you can get in relation to the very expensive vacation in Israel.
China is already a tourist destination, but this field can grow many times over and enormous money can enter China from Israel and all the countries of the world, the field of tourism to China I believe has a huge potential for the Chinese economy...

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Raphael Perez is an Israeli artist who specializes in naive paintings of urban landscapes. His works depict the cities he loves, such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Paris, and New York, in a colorful and whimsical way. He creates an idealized vision of reality, where the streets are wide and clean, the trees and flowers are abundant, and the people are happy and diverse.

Perez’s naive style is characterized by a lack of perspective, a simplified representation of forms, and a vibrant use of colors. He paints with acrylics on large canvases, using brushes to create texture and contrast. He often includes himself in his paintings, as a painter who observes and captures the scene in front of him. He also incorporates motifs such as kites, balloons, flags, couples, families, and animals to convey a sense of joy and harmony.

Perez’s paintings are influenced by his personal life and experiences. He was born in 1965 in Jerusalem to a religious family. He studied art at the Beer Sheva at schoul of visual art , Born in Jerusalem and later moved to Tel Aviv,

Perez’s paintings have been exhibited in Israel and abroad, and have received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. His works are considered to be original and refreshing, as they offer a different perspective on urban life. His paintings are not meant to be realistic or accurate, but rather to evoke a feeling of nostalgia, fantasy, and optimism. Perez invites the viewers to join him in his journey of exploring and enjoying the beauty of the cities

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