Boaz Vaadia
"I work with nature as an equal partner. . . That's still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to earth. It's in the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work." - Boaz Vaadia
Born in Gat Rimon in 1951, Vaadia grew up in a rural community where his parents, Nissim Vaadia and Rivka Horozlaski, farmed strawberries. In 1975, with a grant from America-Israel Cultural Foundation, he relocated to New York, where he studied at the Pratt Institute. Vaadia began collecting materials such as slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders after he discovered an ongoing construction project near his studio in SoHo. As workers ripped up the bluestone sidewalk, Vaadia carried the discarded material to his loft, where he worked with a hammer and chisel to further expose the sedimentary layers of the rocks. Inspired by the stratified layers, he began creating sculptures that echoed the natural composition of his materials.
Biography
In Boaz Vaadia’s quietly monumental work, stone rises layer by layer to describe figures with a serene and watchful presence. For over thirty years, he collected materials—often slate or bluestone—from the area around his SoHo studio in New York, where he immigrated in the 1970s. What others saw as discarded roofing tiles and landscaping debris, Vaadia saw as sedimentary rock formed over eons, the same as the stones underneath his childhood farm in Israel
To Vaadia, stone was “the bone structure of the earth,” with an energy linked to the human soul. Each sculpture is the result of chiseling and stacking, a process recalling natural transformations that happen over geologic time as well as prehistoric construction methods that relied solely on cut and weight. Their titles, ancient names lifted from the Bible, are a nod to Vaadia's cultural heritage, his personal way of remembering his creations.
Vaadia (1951–2017) exhibited internationally, with public installations at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Independence Park in Tel Aviv, and others. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, among numerous other collections both private and public.
(1951–2017)
Born
Gat Rimon, Israel
Education
1976-77 Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, NY.
1975-76 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
1967-71 Avni Institute of Fine Arts, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Museum Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. • Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. • The Jewish Museum, New York, NY • Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL • The Baker Museum, Naples, FL • Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI • Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, MI • The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel • Open Museum at Tefen, Israel • Tel Aviv Museum, Israel • Hakone Open Air Museum, Utsukushigahara Museum, Japan • Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Japan.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 Caldwell Snyder Galler, St. Helena, CA
2019 The Open Museum Tefen, Tefen, Israel
Boaz Vaadia | 1951 - 2017, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 Museum exhbition at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, FL - Organized by Sponder Gallery
Connaught Brown, London, England.
2017 Jim Kempner, New York, NY
2016 Museum exhbition at Grounds for Sculpture , Hamilton, NJ
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2015 Vered Gallery , East Hampton, NY
2014 Connaught Brown, London, England.
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2013 Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2012 Baker Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID.
2011 Connaught Brown, London, England.
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2010 Eckert Fine Art, Kent, CT.
2008 Connaught Brown, London, England.
2006 Eckert Fine Art, Naples, FL.
Galerie Terminus, Munchen, Germany.
Connaught Brown, London, England.
2005 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Hampshire, England.
2004 Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada.
2003 Kraft Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2003 Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
2002 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
2001 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
2000 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
1997 Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
1996 Buschlen-Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
1995 Allene Lapides Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
1994 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
1993 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL.
1992 O.K. Harris Works of Art, NY, NY.
1991 Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL.
1990 O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago IL.
1990 O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
Outdoor Installations/Public Art
2018 Sabal Palm Bank Plaza, Sarasota, Florida. Permanent Installation of Ba’al & Yizhaq.
2017 Point Leo Sculpture Park, Victoria, Australia. Permanent Installation of Ma’aseyahu & Haziel.
2016 The Easton, New York, NY. Permanent installation of outdoor sculpture, Yakhin, in front of apartment building.
Main Street Square, Houston, TX. Permanent installation of Asa & Yehoshafat with Dog.
2014 University Medical Center of Princeton, Plainsboro, NJ. Permanent installation of Amaryahu with Cat.
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. Family with Dog, Permanent installation and Ah’av.
2009 Independence Park, Tel Aviv, Israel. Permanent Installation of Asa & Yehoshafat.
2008 University of Nevada, Reno, NV. Permanent installation of Ginnetoy 2nd.
2006 The Hilton Garden Inn, Staten Island, NY. Permanent installation of Yo’ah with Dog.
2004 Time Warner Center - South Tower Entrance, New York, NY. Permanent installation of Asaf and Yo'ah.
2000 Hall Office Park, Frisco, TX. Permanent installation of Eli’ezer.
1998 Chicago Symphony Sculpture Garden at Ravinia, Chicago IL. Permanent installation of David and Yonatan.
1997 The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida. Permanent installation of Meshullemet and Menashshe.
1996 All Souls School, New York, NY. Permanent installation of Milka & Tirza.
1995 Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Japan. Permanent Installation of Piltay & Pashhur.
1992 Hakone Open Air Museum, Utsukushi-ga-hara Open Air Museum, Japan, permanent installation of Moriyya in outdoor sculpture garden.
Arlington County Beautification Program, Rosslyn, VA. Permanent installation of the sculpture David Haggit & Adoniyya, public private partnership between Arlington County and La Salle partners.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
(1951–2017)
Born
Gat Rimon, Israel
Education
1976-77 Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, NY.
1975-76 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
1967-71 Avni Institute of Fine Arts, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Museum Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. • Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. • The Jewish Museum, New York, NY • Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL • The Baker Museum, Naples, FL • Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI • Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, MI • The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel • Open Museum at Tefen, Israel • Tel Aviv Museum, Israel • Hakone Open Air Museum, Utsukushigahara Museum, Japan • Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Japan.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 Caldwell Snyder Galler, St. Helena, CA
2019 The Open Museum Tefen, Tefen, Israel
Boaz Vaadia | 1951 - 2017, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 Museum exhbition at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, FL - Organized by Sponder Gallery
Connaught Brown, London, England.
2017 Jim Kempner, New York, NY
2016 Museum exhbition at Grounds for Sculpture , Hamilton, NJ
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2015 Vered Gallery , East Hampton, NY
2014 Connaught Brown, London, England.
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2013 Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2012 Baker Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID.
2011 Connaught Brown, London, England.
Jim Kempner Fine Art Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
2010 Eckert Fine Art, Kent, CT.
2008 Connaught Brown, London, England.
2006 Eckert Fine Art, Naples, FL.
Galerie Terminus, Munchen, Germany.
Connaught Brown, London, England.
2005 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery, Hampshire, England.
2004 Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada.
2003 Kraft Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
2003 Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
2002 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
2001 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
2000 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
1997 Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA.
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
1996 Buschlen-Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL.
1995 Allene Lapides Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
1994 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
1993 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA.
Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL.
1992 O.K. Harris Works of Art, NY, NY.
1991 Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL.
1990 O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago IL.
1990 O.K. Harris Works of Art, Birmingham, MI.
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY.
Outdoor Installations/Public Art
2018 Sabal Palm Bank Plaza, Sarasota, Florida. Permanent Installation of Ba’al & Yizhaq.
2017 Point Leo Sculpture Park, Victoria, Australia. Permanent Installation of Ma’aseyahu & Haziel.
2016 The Easton, New York, NY. Permanent installation of outdoor sculpture, Yakhin, in front of apartment building.
Main Street Square, Houston, TX. Permanent installation of Asa & Yehoshafat with Dog.
2014 University Medical Center of Princeton, Plainsboro, NJ. Permanent installation of Amaryahu with Cat.
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. Family with Dog, Permanent installation and Ah’av.
2009 Independence Park, Tel Aviv, Israel. Permanent Installation of Asa & Yehoshafat.
2008 University of Nevada, Reno, NV. Permanent installation of Ginnetoy 2nd.
2006 The Hilton Garden Inn, Staten Island, NY. Permanent installation of Yo’ah with Dog.
2004 Time Warner Center - South Tower Entrance, New York, NY. Permanent installation of Asaf and Yo'ah.
2000 Hall Office Park, Frisco, TX. Permanent installation of Eli’ezer.
1998 Chicago Symphony Sculpture Garden at Ravinia, Chicago IL. Permanent installation of David and Yonatan.
1997 The Baker Museum, Naples, Florida. Permanent installation of Meshullemet and Menashshe.
1996 All Souls School, New York, NY. Permanent installation of Milka & Tirza.
1995 Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, Japan. Permanent Installation of Piltay & Pashhur.
1992 Hakone Open Air Museum, Utsukushi-ga-hara Open Air Museum, Japan, permanent installation of Moriyya in outdoor sculpture garden.
Arlington County Beautification Program, Rosslyn, VA. Permanent installation of the sculpture David Haggit & Adoniyya, public private partnership between Arlington County and La Salle partners.
In Boaz Vaadia’s quietly monumental work, stone rises layer by layer to describe figures with a serene and watchful presence. For over thirty years, he collected materials—often slate or bluestone—from the area around his SoHo studio in New York, where he immigrated in the 1970s. What others saw as discarded roofing tiles and landscaping debris, Vaadia saw as sedimentary rock formed over eons, the same as the stones underneath his childhood farm in Israel
To Vaadia, stone was “the bone structure of the earth,” with an energy linked to the human soul. Each sculpture is the result of chiseling and stacking, a process recalling natural transformations that happen over geologic time as well as prehistoric construction methods that relied solely on cut and weight. Their titles, ancient names lifted from the Bible, are a nod to Vaadia's cultural heritage, his personal way of remembering his creations.
Vaadia (1951–2017) exhibited internationally, with public installations at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Independence Park in Tel Aviv, and others. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, among numerous other collections both private and public.
Biography
Press
"I work with nature as an equal partner. . . That's still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to earth. It's in the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work." - Boaz Vaadia
Born in Gat Rimon in 1951, Vaadia grew up in a rural community where his parents, Nissim Vaadia and Rivka Horozlaski, farmed strawberries. In 1975, with a grant from America-Israel Cultural Foundation, he relocated to New York, where he studied at the Pratt Institute. Vaadia began collecting materials such as slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders after he discovered an ongoing construction project near his studio in SoHo. As workers ripped up the bluestone sidewalk, Vaadia carried the discarded material to his loft, where he worked with a hammer and chisel to further expose the sedimentary layers of the rocks. Inspired by the stratified layers, he began creating sculptures that echoed the natural composition of his materials.
Boaz Vaadia
Boaz Vaadia slices and carves layers of bluestone to form his figures. Each layer is hand-hewn, chiseled, and chipped in the manner of ancient arrowheads. Vaadia then stacks these gradated bluestone pieces into a stratified human form that echoes the way in which sediment is naturally layered in rock.
"I work with nature as an equal partner. . . That's still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to earth. It's in the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work." - Boaz Vaadia
Born in Gat Rimon in 1951, Vaadia grew up in a rural community where his parents, Nissim Vaadia and Rivka Horozlaski, farmed strawberries. In 1975, with a grant from America-Israel Cultural Foundation, he relocated to New York, where he studied at the Pratt Institute. Vaadia began collecting materials such as slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders after he discovered an ongoing construction project near his studio in SoHo. As workers ripped up the bluestone sidewalk, Vaadia carried the discarded material to his loft, where he worked with a hammer and chisel to further expose the sedimentary layers of the rocks. Inspired by the stratified layers, he began creating sculptures that echoed the natural composition of his materials.