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An interview about the homosexual work of the Israeli painter Raphael Perez in Hebrew Rafi Peretz
Question: Tell me briefly about yourself, biography , family
Answer: I was born into a traditional family in Jerusalem, we are 7 brothers and sisters, 5 sons and two daughters, I have a twin brother, I was born in 1965 in Jerusalem

Question: When did you know about your homosexual sexual identity? Answer: Like any young boy from the age of 10, while the boys were enthusiastic about being the queen of the class, I thought about the boys,

Question: Raphael Perez How is homosexuality reflected in your work Answer: From the age of 17 to the age of 32, I kept personal diaries that over the years became visual artist books. I wrote texts about my sexual indecision as a teenager, and then throughout my twenties I struggled with the desire to realize a relationship with a man and I was with women until the age of 32. During this time, the diaries became more visual and I drew on The text that I reveal to hide my sexuality mainly from myself...

Question: Have you created oil and acrylic paintings on the subject of heterosexual relationships and partnerships

Answer: Yes, until the age of 33. 1998 In addition to the notebooks and diaries, I also created a series of large oil paintings and drawings of couples of a man and a woman, the idea of these series being an attempt to find the connection to a relationship with women, but it did not work, in the paintings of the heterosexual couples, the result was always a sad one, in which the man does not surrender For a relationship, this is not his natural place,

Question: Raphael Perez How was the transition to creating paintings of couples from the gay community?
Answer:Starting in 1998 I created a series of men's paintings, at first it was very realistic paintings of two lesbian women, or two gay men who are obviously debating their sexuality.
In 1999 I had a short first love so I created a series in my opinion the best of what is called "Late Youthful Love" paintings The first to deal with homosexual love, which I experienced for the first time at the age of 34, large, huge pink paintings, which depict a harmonious partnership of two men in their daily activities, in the kitchen, in the living room, in the garden, in the bedroom, celebrating their intimacy.
In 2000 I had another partner with whom I was for 4 and a half years and during these years I created many paintings that deal with a mature homosexual relationship, paintings of same-sex families (this is perhaps the only moment in my life because I thought about a proud family) men in the seasons, a series of paintings of soldiers marching, and paintings which I defined as "gays and the good life" an idealization of homosexual life, male couples in the lake, in the pool, with pride flags decorating the streets and houses,
I created a series that I called "a proud neighborhood" or "the gay ghetto" Tel Aviv in those years was shaped as a center for the gay community and in certain areas The places of recreation and residence of the members of the community were concentrated, I created a series of hyper-realistic works of portraits of activists from the gay community who lay on the fence in the 80s and especially - 90s and took care of the rights of the LGBT community as they are today,
I painted political figures, activists, heads of the LGBT association, artists from the community and people of the Night Soldier, With the end of the marital relationship and my personal transition to celebrating singleness at parties, spending time in Tel Aviv - the city itself occupies a central place in the work, initially in paintings with homosexual characteristics of the city, pride flags in each painting, balloons, kites and umbrellas in the colors of the rainbow.
During these years I was in casual relationships with men and I even experienced a kind of openness from the whole homosexual experience that in the past I idealized and moved to the creation of the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and more when the homosexual motifs disappear and I found myself less conflicted with relationships with women, and today my closest friends are a number of women Limited .. this is of course reflected in the work and in the last 15 years (now 2023) when I am 58 years old I mainly create paintings of urban landscapes with couples of a man and a woman

Question: Raphael Perez what about love and relationships
Answer: Since 2013, I met the love of my life, a stunning young man named Assaf Henigsberg, who is everything I wanted and was looking for in a relationship, we are celebrating 10 years of a happy relationship, at the same time as the heterosexual urban landscape paintings, I created a series of ten personal portraits of my beloved Assaf Henigsberg, today the relationship At the center before creation and before art, we believe in living the real simple, modest life and not living in fantasies...

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