Avner Katz (1939-2020)

Avner Katz was born in 1939 in Ramat Rachel. In the 1950s he studied applied art at Bezalel. He then continued his studies in London. Alongside his prolific work as an illustrator and designer, he also worked in print, in woodcutting and linocut. His works, distinguished by large-scale formats, features scenes pertaining to the experience of the individual within Israeli society – with the Lebanon War and the dissolving of the kibbutz in the background. In 2016 he published an artist’s book together with Yaron London, entitled “Le carnaval des animaux” (The Carnival of the Animals) .

Education
1955-59 Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Jerusalem
1964-66 Central School of Art, London, England

Awards And Prizes
1980 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1980 The IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) International Prize for Children’s Literature, UNESCO, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1981 The America-Israel Cultural Foundation Sharett Fund Scholarship, “Hans Christian Anderson” Prize, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1984 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1985 Nahum Gutman Prize for Book Illustration,. Tel-Aviv Municipality
1986 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, for illustration of children’s books
1988 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, for illustration of children’s books
1991 Lada Honorary Medal, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1995 The Israel Discount Bank Prize for an Israeli Artist, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1996 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1998 Ben-Yitzhak Prize for Children’s Books Illustration, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2002 Hadassah Fund, Haifa, Haifa Foundaation for the Illustration of Children’s Books, Haifa, Prize for illustration of Children’s Book
2003 Prize for Plastic Arts, Ministry of Education and Culture
2012 Yakir Bezalel, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem

Solo Exhibitions (selection in the field of printmaking)
1990 Avner Katz: Lino Cuts
The Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan
1996 Avner Katz: Linocuts and Other Works, University of Haifa, Haifa
2002 Avner Katz – Checkpoint Erez, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
2007 S.M.XL, Oranim – Art Institute Gallery, Tivon
2013 Dress Rehearsal, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv-Yaffo
2014 Avner Catz – New Works 2014, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv-Yaffo
2016 Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv-Yaffo