OZ ALMOG
Oz Almog (born April 15,1956 in Kfar Saba, Israel) is a highly renowned Austrian-Israeli artist and author, whose works have been exhibited in more than a few dozens museums and galleries worldwide– from Vienna to Tel Aviv, from London, Berlin and Amsterdam to Balkan… Each of his exhibitions has been published a book, transcending the usual presentation of one artist and his work, turning it into an indispensable lexicon of Jewish personalities and phenomena.
Oz is one of Israel's most controversial and thought provoking artists. While there is not much about his work online, our film is the most comprehensive documentation of his work that exists. Despite the revelations of our film Oz remains an extremely intriguing and talented artist in his own right. We had offered Oz to collaborate in bringing his portfolio online and sharing with the exhibition of the film. Unfortunately considering the outcome of our story and our relationship, he chose not to participate.
Exhibitions
1980's
While still attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Austria, Almog took an active part and was recognized as one of the most influential off-scene underground art figures in in Europe.
1988
Armchair Assassination (symbolic execution of anti-Semitic writers)
1994
Birth of a Myth
(German title Geburt eines Mythos) exhibition took place at WUK, an alternative arts center in Vienna. In some 70 oil paintings Almog auto-portrayed himself in the style of Nazi art, classicism and social realism as a ruler and savior, as a naked, provocatively muscle-bound godlike figure, as a fiery agitator or simply with the stern regard of a stormtrooper, complete with leather belt and jackboots.
1995
The Psychonaut and His Mind Navigator
featured 360 oils, mostly self-portraits in the style of pulp magazine covers. The artist presented himself as a lecherous vampire drooling over a beautiful blond, a revolver-toting gangster, a crazed toy alien, or monstrously endowed porno star.
1995
En Face
Not seen and/or less seen of/by, reconstructing the images of the famous visual artists by using an original collection of interchangeable facial features' templates of Austrian Federal Police from the 70s.
1997
Blok Brut (auto-erotic deaths)
Blood Addict
Bloody scenes of Murder 1949-1960, presented in Janco Dada Museum in Israel.
Shaheed
(Suicide Terror phenomena) -- in Limbus Gallery, Tel Aviv. It is a series of selected real police photos of fatal auto-erotic strangulations, extracts from the scene-of-the-crime photos, metamorphosed with real blood into abstract light and dark compositions.
1999 -- HIM TOO? CHRONICLE OF A CULTURAL OBSESSION
Him Too?? Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession (400 portraits of famous Jewish personalities, 1999) represents Oz Almog’s artistic analysis of hidden forms of anti-Semitism and, in the same time, radical de-construction of The Artist as a phenomenon. After being shown at the Jewish Museum Vienna, the installation continued to Israel, Germany, the Netherlands and dozens museums worldwide, becoming Almog's most successful exhibition, gaining him international recognition and critical praise. All of the portraits in this exhibit were actually painted by Vladimir Dvorkin....
Revealing the truth about who really painted much of Oz Almog's artwork
2000-2001
Aktion T-4: Opera Euthanasia
part of the Memorial exhibition at the Upper Austrian State Museum, Linz – featured a child's bedroom with over 350 paintings of prominent Nazis, serial killers and other criminals and once again produced a massive public reaction.
Wiener en face – Portraits of Careers
(Viennese en face – Portraits of Careers), with 350 paintings of prominent Viennese personalities, was shown from October 2000 to April 2001 at the Hermes Villa (part of the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna).
Towards the Light of Dawn
Jewish Heroes of the Soviet Union (Dem Morgenrot Entgegen). With this exhibition Oz Almog has attempted to uncover what he says is the "repressed history" of the 500,000 Jews who fought in the Soviet army – a third of the 1.5 million Jewish soldiers from all Allied nations.
2004/05
Kosher Nostra. Jewish Gangsters in America 1890–1980, Oz Almog created an impressive documentary summary of an entire epoch of crimes committed by Jewish gangsters. Through pictures, newspaper articles, and official documents, he showed how such criminals as Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter had a determining influence on the development of organized crime in America. Shown at the Jewish Museum, Vienna, featured more than 160 realistic oil portraits, with most of personalities shown both full-face and from profile. Each "mug shot" was accompanied with a short biography, resulting in two books with over 1000 pages.
Colors of War
Camouflage was shown in the Imperial Furniture Museum in Vienna, exhibiting the original furniture of Austo-Hungarian Emperors, re-furbished with the military camouflage fabrics. A Warrior Cult was on view at the Jewish Museum, featuring the mosaic of shoulder sleeve insignias oil paintings.
2007/08
Judaica Kid’s Box. A number of international artists joined Almog in this project, taking up the challenge of presenting Jewish tradition, concepts, symbolism, thought and teachings in a form accessible to children. The colourful and entertaining presentation was designed to provide young and "adult" children with the means to understand the significance of the Hebrew alphabet. Judaica Kid’s Box was running for more than two years in the Jewish Museum, Vienna.
Goddevilaethaear
Oz Almog + Wilhelm Reich: A Journey to Hell ("GOTTTEUFELAETHER - Oz Almog + Wilhelm Reich: Ausfluss der Hölle"). Like Wilhelm Reich has a fanatical and often esoterically inspired following, so here we have Oz’s artistic interpretation of the complex plane of Wilhelm Reich’s concepts in conjunction with a dark, phantasmagorical underworld of Jewish Hell (Gehinom).
2010
Walls of Sound - Jewish Wolds of Music.
at the Jewish Museum, featuring Jewish music and Jewish musicians.
2011
Kosher Nostra: Jewish Gangsters Greatest Hits CD. Released by Almog with DJ Shantel this music compilation contains a wild mix of swing, jazz, twist, Charleston and Yiddish songs, the sound of the American Jewish Mafia throughout the '20s to the '60s.