Biography

The Estate of Artist Buky Schwartz strives to raise public awareness to Buky Schwartz’s art legacy. The Estate actively works to support museum/gallery exhibits, private and public collections, education, research, and historic restoration and preservation.

Artist Biography

June 16, 1932 – September 1, 2009.

Buky SchwartzBorn in Jerusalem and originally trained as a sculptor in Israel, Schwartz moved to London in 1959, where he played an important role in the hotbed of new sculptural directions at St. Martin’s School of Art during the 1960s. In 1971 Schwartz moved to New York, where he continued to reside part of each year. During the 1960s and 1970s Schwartz’s inventive use of sculptural materials, such as mirrors and wooden timbers, involved an interplay between illusory appearances and the actual, physical presence, weight, and structure of his work. This playful interaction between sculptural appearance and physical reality quickly became a central aspect in much of his video installation work as he added that modern medium to his vocabulary in the late 1970s.

Schwartz’s videoconstructions have been essentially of two types: objects, sculptural presences that incorporate video monitors and around which the viewer moves; and environments, which are akin to architectural interiors in that the viewer is surrounded by forms and colors, including closed-circuit video imagery.

Schwartz’s creative use of the electronic medium of video, and the complex and emphatic manner in which he integrates the viewer into his video work, are both related to central aspects of twentieth-century art. Thus Schwartz’s work is of interest not simply for itself, but for its place in modern art as well.

Acclaimed in three worlds – Europe, Israel, and the United States – Schwartz’s work has been included in the Venice Biennale (1966), the Whitney Biennial (1981) in New York, the Carnegie International (1982) in Pittsburgh, and Documenta (1987) in Kassel. He was also represented in such leading historical surveys of video art as A History of Video Art (1984) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Video Skulptur (1989), Cologne. His work has had numerous presentations in one-person and group exhibitions at galleries and museums throughout the world and is included in several private and public collections, most notably: Whitney Museum, N.Y.C, Guggenheim Museum, N.Y.C, and  Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC.

Bill Judson
Curator of film & video
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh

Video Works in Art Collections

The Circle (1978), ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2020.
PAINTED PROJECTIONS, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2014
BOX # 1, 1978, (C.C.T.V), Guggenheim Museum, N.Y.C, 2004
TARGET III, (Still & Video),Israeli T.V. offices, Channel 2, Jerusalem.
VIDEO SEE-SAW, (Still & Video) Tel Aviv Museum, Israel.
THE PICTURE’S SURFACE, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
THE BIG VIDEO CHAIR, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
YELLOW TRIANGLE, Whitney Museum, N.Y.C.
THE PICTURE’S SURFACE, Andin Company, N.Y.C.
FORM OF DETACHMENT, Marine Company, Discount Bank, N.Y.C.
VIDEOCONSTRUCTIONS, (Videotape: Buky Schwartz: Videoconstructions), Hara Museum, Tokyo.
PLATO’S CAVE II, Middlebury College, Vermont.
VENUS SYNCHRONICITY 1992, Lutz Teutloff Gallery, Germany.
VENUS IN THE SHELL, Sony Company, Koln, Germany.
TARGET II, (Still & Video), Sony Company, Koln, Germany.

Prizes and Honors

2002   Tel Aviv Foundation, “Combining Art with Architecture” Prize
1995   Tel Aviv Foundation, “Combining Art with Architecture” Prize
1992   Pollock-Krasner Grant for videosculpture, New York City
1990   Guggenheim Grant for Publication
1989   L’immagine Elettronica, Annual International Prize for videosculpture, Ferrara, Italy
1988   National endowment for the Arts, Sculpture Grant
1987   Guggenheim Fellowship
1986   Mid Atlantic States Art Consortium Residency, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
1983   NYSCA Video Art Award
1980   CAPS Fellowship
1971   Nuremberg Urban Symposium Purchase Award
1971   Dizengoff Prize, Tel Aviv Museum
1971   Sainsbury Award, London
1971   Deutscher Kritikerpreis, Berlin
1961   House and Garden Prize, London
1961   Sainsbury Award, London

Select One-Person Exhibitions

2010  Point of View, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv
2002   QUESTION MARK mirror installation, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv.
2000   4 INTERACTIVE INSTALLATIONS, Avni School of Art, gallery*
1999   KUNST KUNST II, Video Installation, in 2 parts, with 300 artificial roses, Neuruppin, Germany*
1998   IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF YELLOW TRIANGLE ’98, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
1997   FORESTHILL ’97, Umedalen Skulptur ’97, Umea, Sweden
1996   A VIEW FROM ABOVE, Video Installation, Harn Museum, Gainesville, FL*
1995   FACING ONESELF, Lutz Teutloff Gallery, Koln, Germany*
1993   Video sculptures for The Sony Pavilion at CeBIT, Hanover, Germany*
1992   VENUS SYNCHRONICITY, Lutz Teutloff Gallery, Koln, Germany *
1991   VIDEO SUNFLOWERS, M.U.H.K.A. Museum, Antwerpen, Belgium*
TEL AVIV-NEW YORK, INTERIM TITLE, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv
1990   SONY PRESENTS BUKY SCHWARTZ, 1990, The Ramat Gan Museum*
VIDEO SPACE FOR A BLUE HOUSE, Spokane, eastern Washington University, WA*
1989   THE PICTURE’S SURFACE and FORM OF DETACHMENT,
Delta Gallery (Hubertus Wunschik), Dusseldorf, Germany
MOBIUS STRIP, THE PICTURE’S SURFACE, and FORM OF DETACHMENT, Spaces, Cleveland, OH*
AIR LINES, Eric Stark Gallery, New York City*
MOBIUS STRIP, Kijkhuis, The Hague, Holland*
1986   THREE ANGLES OF COORDINATION FOR MONITORING THE LABYRINTHIAN SPACE, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA*
VIDEO SPIRAL, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC*
T.V. STRIPES ON TREE STUMPS, American Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria NYC*
1984   YELLOW GATE, P.S. 1, Institute of Art & Urban Resources, LIC, NY*
AIRPORT VIDEO, International Arrivals Building, John F. Kennedy , NYC.*
RED FLAGS IN THE SNOW, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT*
1981   3 VIDEO WORKS, Art Museum, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA*
FALL 1981, Israel Museum, Jerusalem*
3D IMPRINT, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviiv
3D IMPRINT, Anthology Film Archives, New York City*
1980   VIDEOSCULPTURE, Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, NY*
VIDEOCONSTRUCTIONS, Installation, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.*
1979   VIDEO COLLOR BARS, Akron Art Institute, OH.*
1978   VIDEOCONSTRUCTIONS, Installation, OK Harris Gallery, N.Y.C.*
VIDEOCONSTRUCTIONS, Installation, I.C.C., Antwerp, Belgium.*
1977   PAINTED PROJECTIONS, Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv.*
1976   MIRROR SCULPTURES, OK Harris Gallery, N.Y.C.
1971   ISRAEL MUSEUM, Jerusalem.
1968   TEL AVIV MUSEUM, Tel Aviv.

Select Group Exhibitions

2022 The Language of the Liminal, Ramat Gan Museum, Israel.
2022 Videoconstructions (1978), Vision Exercises, Azrieli Gallery, Israel.
2020 Untitled, 2000, Masking tape and transparent paper, Museum on the Seam, Israel.
2019 Videoconstructions segment 5 (1978) and The Chair (1980), ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany.*
2016–2018 Videoconstructions (1978), Artis, international travelling video exhibition. *
2015  PAINTED PROJECTIONS (1977), Watch This! Revelations in Media Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
2015  The Big Chair (1987), Uncrated, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
2013  THE CHAIR, ArTricks, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2007  SPRING 1981, Video Installation, Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York
2003   BOX # 1 (1978) Communication Interferences, Haifa Museum, Israel*
2002   BLACK SUN, The Boundaries of Sculpture, The Open Museum, Tefen, Israel*
2000   COLLECTION, Arturo & Silvia Schwarz, Tel Aviv Museum.
GROUP DRAWING EXHIBITION, Julie Gallery, Tel Aviv.
GROUP 70’s- 2000, Nelly Aman Gallery, Tel Aviv.
BETWEEN WATER & SKY, 3rd. Biennale of Installations, Haifa Museum.*
1999   YELLOW STAR OF DAVID, mirror installation, IKD International Kunstforum, Drewen, Germany.
1998   YELLOW TRIANGLE ’79, Israeli Art in the Seventies, Tel Aviv Museum, *
YELLOW TRIANGLE ’79, Collection of the Whitney Museum at the San Jose Museum, California*
1995    INTERVENTION IN THE MUSEUM SPACE, Museum of Modern Art Caracas.*,
VIDEO SEESAW, First Gwangju Biennale, South Korea*
1994    ALONG NEW LINES, a drawing exhibition, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
1993    SCULPTING THE SPECTATOR, a project for Construction in Process IV, Lodz, Poland
FLYING MARX, Monumental Propaganda, Independent Curators Incorporated, New York
1990    FRIEZE 1990 (a videosculpture), Paula Anglim Gallery, San Francisco*
1989    THREE ANGLES OF COORDINATION FOR MONITORING THE LABYRINTHIAN SPACE 1985-1986, Videosculpture Retrospective and Actual 1963-1969: Koln-Berlin-Zurich, Kolnischer Kunstverein, Koln, W. Germany*
THREE POINTS OF OBSERVATION, The Presence of Absence: New installations, Independent Curators Incorporated, New York, Travelling Exhibition
1988    FORFERA, “New American Video Art: Expanded Forms,” and exhibition with Nam June Paik and Bruce Nauman, curated by John Hanhardt, Linz, Austria and Camerino, Italy*
VIDEO SEE SAW, TROJAN HORSE, “Video Art: Expanded Forms,” Whitney Museum at the Equitable Center, New York city*
1987   RELAY STATIONS, Video installation in “Documenta 8,” Kassel, W. Germany*
1986   PINK ROOF, “Engaging Objects: The Participatory Act of Mirrors, Mechanism and Shelters, The Clocktower, New York City*
UNTITLED 1986, “Intericon 86,” Charlottenbourg, Copenhagen*
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, “The Other Television: Video by Artists”Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN*
1984   T.V. ON A TABLE, Tel Aviv Museum, Israel
T.V. STRIPES 1985, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Holland*
1984   BOX 1984, “Current Five.” The Milwaukee Art Museum, WI*
A HISTORY OF VIDEO ART, The Museum of Modern Art, New York City*
1983   VIDEOCONSTRUCTIONS Videotape, Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil*
YELLOW DIAGONAL, Artpark, Lewiston, NY*
1980   CARNEGIE INTERNATIONAL, Art Museum, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, *
IN REAL TIME, Whitney Biannual, Whitney Museum, New York City*
SPRING 1981, Film/Video installations, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, Sparkill, NY*
IZ BIENAL DE ARTE, Medellin, Colombia
1980  BIENNALE DE LA CRITIQUE, Palais de Beaux Arts, Charleroi, France
BEYOND SURFACE, ICC, Antwerp, Belgium*
WHITE FLAGS TRIANGLE, Landscape Sculpture, Tel Hai, Israel.
1979   YELLOW TRIANGLE, Re-Visions, Whitney Museum, N.Y.C*
1977   FORMS IN FOCUS, Co-op City, N.Y.C.
SCULPTURE NOW, Potsdam, N.Y.
1976   PAINTING AND SCULPTURE TODAY, Indianapolis Museum, IN. USA
GROUP, Bertha Urdang Gallery, N.Y.C.
1975   STORM KING ART CENTER, N.Y
1974   BEYOND DRAWING, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1971   SYMPOSIUM URBANUM, Nurenberg, W.Germany
1966   VENICE BIANNALE, Venice

Select Sculptures and Projects in Public Collections

COLLAPSING HOUSE, 1990, steel. Courtesy of the artist estate Collection, Sheba Medical Center, Israel, 2022.
INTERNET MESSENGER, painted steel, Petach Tikva, Israel, 2003
BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, steel + mirrors, Kiriat Uno, Israel, 2002
THE GIVING TREE, painted steel + Mirrors, Lavon Pk. Holon, Israel, 2002
LEONARDO, Steel sculpture, Ramat Poleg, Netanya, Israel. 2001.
HEBREW 2000, Total sculptural Environment, 20-25 sculptures (steel+stainless steel)
The Technological Park, Malcha, Jerusalem, Israel. 2000 – 2003
ZIG-ZAG, Landscape sculpture, steel, Park West, Raanana, 1998.
CAPITAL, outdoor sculpture (glass & raw steel, 9 m high), Isracard Building, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1997-98
PINBALL MACHINE, Indoor mirror installation (steel, stainless steel, fiberglass & mirrors, 15 m high), Isracard Building, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1997-98
FORESTHILL ’97 (PVC poles & concrete), Umedalen Skulptur ’97, Umedalen, Umea, Sweden, 1997
SHIKUN (HOUSING PROJECT) (raw steel), Holon, Israel, 1996
OBELISK, INTERIM TITLE (raw steel & concrete, 9 m high), Tel Aviv, Israel, 1996
TARGET II, video installation, Lobby of the 2nd Channel of Israeli TV, Jerusalem, Israel,
FACING ONESELF (raw steel), Collection of Lutz Teutloff, Brock University, St.Catherines, Canada, 1995
FACING ANOTHER (raw steel), Collection of Lutz Teutloff, Brock University, St. Catherines, Canada, 1995
FACING ENERNITY (raw steel), Collection of Lutz Teutloff, Brock University, St. Catherines, Canada, 1995
VIDEO COMMUNITY/ APERTURES TO IRAQ (Video Installation), Beth Hatefutsoth,Tel Aviv, Israel, 1995
SCULPTING THE SPECTATOR (raw steel & a mirror), a six-location installation in Lodz, Poland, 1993
A WINDOW ON THE BOULEVARD (painted steel & chair), Zion House, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1992
SUMMIT OF FEAR (painted steel), Netanya south- highway, 1992
PLATO’S CAVE II (steel & video), Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, 1992
METROPOLIS 1990 (steel), Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. 1990
DEAD SEA SCULPTURE (painted steel), Einbokek, Israel. 1987
INSIDEOUT (Vermont marble), Memorial Sculpture for Jonathan Netanyahu (Antebe).
American Jewish Museum, Philadelphia. 1986
SNEH (painted plywood), Jewish Museum, New York City. 1983
WAVES (cast aluminum), Singapore 1980
AQUADUCT (steel and tree trunks), Jerusalem, Israel. 1977
INSIDEOUT (granite), Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 1976
UNTITLED (painted steel and mirrors), Reno, Nevada. 1976
UNTITLED (pained wood), Bank Leumi Trust, New York City. 1975
UNTITLED (painted steel and mirrors), Fairfax, Virginia. 1975
UNTITLED (painted aluminum and mirrors), Washington, DC. 1975
UNTITLED (aluminum diamond plate), University of Chicago. 1974
EL AL PROTECTIVE WALLS ART PROJECT (steel and mirrors), Greece, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Holland, USA. 1973-74
HOPE (stainless steel), West Hartford, Connecticut. 1973
UNTITLED (painted steel), Sterling Heights, Michigan 1972
SPIRAL (painted steel), Dallas, Texas. 1971
WAVES (stainless steel), El Al Terminal, JFK Airport. 1971
CUBE COLUMN (stainless steel), Israel Discount Bank, New York City. 1971
UNEXPECTED 1 (cor-ten steel), Nurenberg, Germany. 1971
SPIRAL (painted steel), New York, in front of the Brooklyn Museum (now in Brooklyn near Pratt Institute). 1970
FIVE (CUBE COLUMN) ( painted fiberglass), Kiriat Eliezer, Haifa, Israel. 1970
MALKAT HA’AMBATIA ( The Shampoo Queen), The Cameri Theatre,Tel Aviv, Israel Stage Design, 1970
0°-180° (painted steel), Israel Museum, Sculpture Garden, Jerusalem. 1968
UNTITLED (cast aluminum), El Al Israel Airlines, Zurich. 1968
UNTITLED (stainless steel), El Al Israel Airlines, Johannesburg. 1967
PILLAR OF HEROISM (stainless steel and concrete), Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. 1967-70
CHOSHEN (bronze), Knesset (Parliament), Jerusalem.
UNTITLED (brass tubing and light bulbs), Hilton Hotel Tel Aviv, 1965
ALTARS AND WATER WAYS (concrete and basalt), Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. 1963

* Video Works