Jossef Krispel and David Adika: Painting and Photography

Jossef Krispel is an artist, painter and the head of the Department of Fine Arts at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, where he has served as a senior lecturer since 2006. He holds both Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees from Bezalel. In his work, Krispel raises questions about the definition and the position of a painting in relation to the painted surface, and suggests seeing it as a mask, a screen, a shell, or a coating. He has been featured in many solo exhibitions in Israel and abroad and won numerous awards; among them the 2008 Rappaport Young Artist Prize and the 2012 Ministry of Culture Award. His paintings are found in many collections.

David Adika is a photographer, artist and the head of the Photography Department at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. A senior lecturer in the Department of Photography since 1999, he holds Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees from Bezalel. David Adika’s work focuses on the visual and cultural facets of the local Middle Eastern space as a microcosm that reflects his social and family identity. His photographic corpus contains representations of various still life and portraits, blurring the boundaries between abstract conceptual language and lavish visual accuracy. Adika’s visual research explores intimate yet universal biographies, while the photographs unfold familiar and unfamiliar aspects of everyday life and highlight questions of taste and social status. Adika has had many solo exhibitions in Israeli and international venues and won many awards, including the Minister and the Emerging Artist Prizes from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the Jack Nailor Award for Photography. His photographs are included in many collections in Israel and abroad.