Raphael Perez is an Israeli artist who has gained recognition for his naive style paintings of Tel Aviv city. His work reflects his love and admiration for the city and its urban landscape, which he depicts in a colorful and lively manner. Perez’s paintings create a sense of wonder and joy in the viewer, as they show a reality that is enhanced and embellished by his imagination.

Perez was born in Jerusalem in 1965. Growing up, he was exposed to the works of great painters by his father. He has two brothers – one an industrial designer (his twin), and the other a jewelry designer. He served in the Israel Defense Forces in the Artillery Corps. Perez only began to paint at the age of 23. In 1989–1992, he studied art at the College of Visual Arts in Beersheba. Since 1995, he has been working and living in Tel Aviv. For 15 years, Perez worked as a counselor at a youth shelter, and a pre-school sports and art teacher.

Perez paints urban landscapes in a naive style, depicting life in the city streets, parks, and public places in a palette of bright colors. Many of his works are grouped by series – men and women, gay families, spherical paintings of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as multi-cultural centers. His early work focused on human relationships, sometimes using flowers as a metaphor. Perez’s artistic career began when he was still living with women. He often painted heterosexual couples, but even then, one discerned Perez’s inner conflicts and attempt to grapple with the complexities of couplehood.

Perez is openly gay and in a relationship since 2013 with Assaf Henigsberg, who also served as a model for some of his paintings. He describes his art as “a reflection of the entire gay community – people in the closet, mature love, gay families, gay political icons and cultural icons”. He plays an important role in actively promoting LGBT art and culture in Tel Aviv, and the internet portal he set up helps artists from the community reach large audiences in Israel and abroad.

In 2010, Perez was commissioned to create advertising posters for the Israel Ministry of Tourism. His posters of Tel Aviv appeared on billboards in the London underground, shopping malls, and bus stops, and his designs were featured on 30,000 transportation card holders distributed in London. His work presents a vision of Israel’s future as a promising startup nation, with a beautiful, clean, and naive cityscape featuring towering skyscrapers reaching towards the sky. He portrays Tel Aviv as a modern and advanced city that is proud of its achievements and aspirations.

Through his art, Perez celebrates the city’s unique character and its place as a cultural hub in Israel. He shows the diversity and richness of the city’s culture, history, and architecture, as well as its spirit of innovation and creativity. Major influences on his work are Nahum Gutman and David Hockney. Perez’s work was described in The London Magazine as “instantly appealing, bursting with exuberance and energy”. According to the Jerusalem Post, Perez is a “Tel Aviv artist in every sense of the word – painting the urban landscape of the city… infused with happiness”.

With the Israeli poet Smadar Sharett, Perez created three books of paintings and poems that have been published in 2021. One of them is called “This is a City” and it contains poems about relationship and urban life. You can find some of his artworks online on absolutearts.com and artmajeur.com.

In conclusion, Raphael Perez is an Israeli artist whose naive style paintings of Tel Aviv city capture the essence of the city and its urban landscape. His work presents an idealized vision of the city that is both beautiful and vibrant. Perez’s paintings are a celebration of Tel Aviv and its unique character as a modern and advanced city.

Selected solo exhibitions
1997 - Notebooks and diaries, Curation Department at Camera Obscura - School of Art, Curator: Alice Machlis, Chief Curator: Reli Avrahami
1998 - Flamengo Restaurant Gallery
2000 – Cafe Theo
2001 - Jerusalem Open House
2002 - Gaim Bagalil, Kiryat Shmona
2002 - The Haifa Forum
2004 - Photogen
2004 – Restaurant - Bar - Shiraz Gallery
2006 - "A woman with a tail - an exhibition of drawings before a wedding", Tel Aviv Artists House, curator: Daniel Kahana-Levinzon
2008 – "The Kiss", Tel Aviv Artists House, Curator: Daniel Kahana-Levinson
2008 - "Panorama Tel Aviv" (couple exhibition with Shalom Flesh), Givatayim Municipal Gallery Water Institute, Curator: Daniel Kahana-Levinzon
2009 - "Army of Lovers", Yanko Dada Ein-Hod Museum, Curator: Daniel Kahana-Levinson
2009 - "Portrait of a community: realistic paintings of key activists from the LGBT community", the urban center for the gay community, curator: Avi Sofer
2010 - "The Open House for Pride and Tolerance", Jerusalem, Curator: Ortal Pell
2016 - "Mediterranean Fantasy", International Congress Center, Naini Ha'oma Jerusalem, Curator: Eran Litvin
2017 - Kiryat Gat Intel factory
2017 - as part of the annual conference of the Association of Construction and Infrastructure Engineers in Israel, the exhibition grounds.
Major group exhibitions in Israel
2003 - "In the public domain - a tribute to Tel Aviv city gardener Avraham Karvan", Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, curator: Tali Tamir
2003 - Ophir Gallery
2004 - "Time for Love: Images of Romantic Art in Contemporary Israeli Art", Time for Art, Tel Aviv, Curator: Tami Katz Freeman
2004 - "Kastra" Haifa Art Center
2004 - Rimon Gallery - 3 artists
2004 - Alternative Gallery - Jaffa Yards
2004 - Bauhaus Center - Tel Aviv
2005 - "In the true colors: both of us together and each separately", Enav Center for Culture, Tel Aviv, curator: Daniel Kahana-Levinzon
2005 - Fresco Gallery
2006 - "Tools Experiment", Bichori Ha'it Center, Tel Aviv, Curator: Moran Shub
2006 - "Anonymous Exhibition", University of Haifa, Art Gallery, Faculty of Humanities, Haifa
2007 - "My Favorite Pornography", Tel Aviv Artists' House, Curator: Yuval Keder
2007 - "Imagination - Israeli Art Exhibition, 2007", Management Building, Bank Hapoalim, Tel Aviv
2007 – Five group exhibitions at the Amiad Center in the flea market in Jaffa, curated by Freddy and Ethi Fabian
2008 - "Accidental Exhibition", Ministry Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Rachel Sukman
2008 - "Tunnel of Time: Self-Portrait Exhibition", Water Institute, Yosef Weissman Municipal Gallery, Givatayim
2009 - "Urban", Stern Gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Debi Luzia
2009 – "White Trash", space in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, curators: Amanda Mel, shameless and Enbalimore
2009 - "Khosoomophobia", Gross Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Ziv Tadhar
2010 - "Artist's Books", Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
2010 - "Men and women make beauty", Gross Gallery, Tel Aviv, curator: Naomi Shalu
2010 - "Nahariya hosts the great city", HaKatza center, Nahariya, curator: Lee Ramon
2011 - "Vanilla Sex", Rosin Design House, Tel Aviv, curators: Esther Shlomo and Freddy Fabian
2011 - "Protest", The Central Gallery, Tel Aviv Curator: Orit Galili
2011 - "Proud Look", Gebo Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Yohanan Harson
2012 - "Without Money", Gross Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Itai Zelait
2012 - "The Face of the State", The Central Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Orit Galili
2014 - "The Generous Tree - The Story of the Olive Tree", Umm Al-Fahm Art Gallery, Umm Al-Fahm
2014 - Hangar 2, Jaffa Port
2017 - "Same but different", Minus One Gallery, curator: Efrat Livni
2017 - "Homeland Lesson", Art Workshop Gallery, Yavne
2017 – "Israeli naive art", Gina Gallery
2018 - "70 for Israel blue and white art: an art exhibition in the public parking lots of Tel Aviv-Jaffa" (Aryeh Azan, Baruch Elron, Nachum Gutman, Naftali Bazam, Kadishman, Rafi Peretz, Zoe Saber, Oded Feingersh), curators: Iris Elhanani, Doron Folk.

Raphael Perez painter Israeli artist paint in naive and realistic style live in tel aviv israel