Buky Schwartz | |
|---|---|
 Buky Schwartz, 1980 | |
| Born | June 16, 1932 |
| Died | September 1, 2009 (aged 77) |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Education | Avni Institute of Art and Design, Tel Aviv Saint Martin's School of Art, London |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | Israeli art |
Buky Schwartz (/ˈbuːki/ BOO-kee; Hebrew: בוקי שוורץ, [ˈbuki ˈʃvaʁts]; June 16, 1932 – September 1, 2009, Tel Aviv) was an Israeli sculptor and video artist.[1]
Moshe (Buky) Schwartz was born in Jerusalem. From 1956 to 1958, he studied sculpture with Yitzhak Danziger (1916–1977) at the Avni Institute of Art and Design, under Aharon Avni in Tel Aviv. In 1959, he moved to London to study at Saint Martin's School of Art. In 1966–1967, he taught at Saint Martin's.[2]
After returning to Israel in 1963, he became known for his painted steel sculptures that were predominately geometric in form. In 1971, he moved to New York City and began making "video structures" in which he filled a room with shapes that came together as a unified whole when projected on a video screen. He also placed mirrors inside sculptures that reflected the sculpture as a whole or certain parts of it. Schwartz also created conceptual art based on an exploration of his own body.[3] He showed his video installations at The Cultural Space on Canal Street in Manhattan.[4]
Schwartz lived and worked in Tel Aviv and New York City until his death in 2009.
Buky Schwartz's family donated his archival collection to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem in 2019. The Buky Schwartz Archive is housed at the museum's Information Center for Israeli Art. It contains some 2,000 archival items documenting the work process of the artist. Throughout his career Schwartz collected materials pertaining to his works including: handwritten installation manuals, correspondence, photographs, sketches, prints, negatives, invitations to exhibitions and other documentation. The content of the artist's analog video collection, approximately 50 tapes, consists of documentation of video installations, works in progress, and press releases including interviews with the artist. The video documentation of Schwartz’s installations illustrates the mechanics of the work, and the impact the work had on viewers.
The Information Center is in the process of digitizing and cataloging the collection to make the images more accessible.[6]
