I reached a point where I felt like there was nothing left to do with it,” Ran Tenenbaum said quietly, referring to his painting and recalling the emptiness he experienced. After two years of searching, he has finally unveiled Solar Plexus at Rothschild Fine Art Gallery in Tel Aviv – works that erupted from within him over the past year. “Suddenly, you see that there is something to do with it,” he reflected on his renewed connection to realist painting.
Alongside this exhibition, Tenenbaum is also showcasing a solo show at the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, featuring works from different years, primarily focused on portraits.
In a conversation with The Jerusalem Post, he shared details of his artistic journey, a path marked by creative dilemmas, emotional struggles, and an unrelenting pursuit of expression. Tenenbaum, who embarked on “a long journey of wandering in search of other ways,” returned to realism from a place of maturity and freedom.
Throughout his journey, he has explored a range of styles and techniques, from multilayered, almost sculptural painting to works on velvet canvases. He spoke about the need to “revive the gaze,” to free himself from the “conceptualization” that limits us, and to reconnect with direct and unmediated observation.
“We are blind from too much conceptualization – we no longer see things as they are,” he said. “Like Krishnamurti once said, the day you teach a child the name of a bird,’ the child will never truly see that bird again. Meaning that we tend to reduce the wonder of the world by naming and objectifying everything.”
TENENBAUM DESCRIBED his creative process as “a dance with reality,” an attempt to capture fleeting moments in their full vibrancy. “Painting often reveals itself through the act of creation,” he explained. “Many times, the material guides me, or the way I interact with the material leads me.”
In the past, he felt the need to reach “extreme psychological states” in order to create.
“I had to reach extreme emotional places for something to truly happen,” he said.
Today, as a family man and father, he finds himself detaching from art when he’s at home, drawing peace from his family. Yet inspiration often strikes in his “neglected” studio, where mistakes and disorder lead to unexpected discoveries. This embrace of the unexpected is evident in his transformation of everyday objects, such as plastic chairs, into subjects of profound contemplation.
“My wife didn’t understand why I was painting those chairs – the ones we all associate with street brawls. But suddenly, I saw beauty in them,” he shared. A pile of stained plastic chairs becomes, in Tenenbaum’s hands, a painting of pure transcendence – evoking imagery of a cathedral or angels ascending and descending Jacob’s ladder. “I was amazed that this magic was right in front of me all along, and I never noticed it,” he said.
A black plastic chair turns into a black lake, shadows on a wall become a frozen cloud, discarded latex gloves rest on the ground like fossils of expression, and wooden crossbars of painting frames ooze a radiant warmth. Within this space, human figures – both real and dreamlike – enter and place in the artist’s hands the gift of their presence.
“All these small discoveries, these inexplicable illuminations, summon forth something elusive from the essence of life itself,” he explained.
Tenenbaum’s latest portraits are striking in their rawness, balancing thick, expressive layers of paint with untouched expanses of bare canvas. Each face seems to emerge from the tension between presence and absence, capturing not just the subject but the very act of painting itself.
He works only until there is “nothing more to do,” believing that restraint is just as vital as action. In these portraits, what is left unsaid, or rather unpainted, is as deliberate as the bold strokes that define them. Among them are several powerful self-portraits, as well as portraits of a young man – his muse – alongside artist friends, students, and members of his family, each rendered with an intensity that feels both personal and universal.
Two decades ago, Tenenbaum turned away from observational painting, feeling it was a dead-end path. He embarked on a long journey, searching for his unique voice.
“Now, for the first time, I feel like I can let go and allow my voice to disappear as if I am allowed to lean blindly on the magical power of seeing because in that space, unlike anywhere else, everything is alive, vibrating, and constantly shifting. It’s a kind of miracle,” he acknowledged.
In 2018, Tenenbaum co-founded HaKolel – Contemporary Painting Studio in Tel Aviv with artist Guy Avital. The studio was born from a desire to create a space for learning, discussion, and in-depth exploration of the many possibilities available to painters today. HaKolel offers yearlong courses, artist workshops, and personalized mentorship programs for painters of all levels. In addition, the studio runs “Painting in the Wind,” a project focusing on landscape painting, offering courses and workshops conducted in nature.
The emphasis at HaKolel is on each student’s personal development, encouraging inquiry, and experimentation with various mediums and techniques.
Teaching has influenced Tenenbaum profoundly.
“Teaching is liberating, it shows me the way,” he said.
Unlike younger students who often see art as a stepping stone to something else, he finds inspiration in older, more experienced students who return to painting after life has shaped them.
“They see beauty in a different way,” he reflected. Often, what happens in class guides the direction of his own work. “Suddenly, I feel drawn to a certain idea, and I realize that I, too, want to go back to that place – to paint.”
Born in 1976, Tenenbaum lives and works in Tel Aviv. He studied painting at Bezalel Academy for one year before moving to the Jerusalem Studio School under the guidance of Israel Hershberg, where he spent three years mastering classical techniques.
Making a name for himself
EARLY IN his career, Tenenbaum quickly made a name for himself as a successful realist painter with a distinct language, exhibiting his works in prominent galleries and museums across Israel. Over the years, he explored different artistic directions – venturing into layered, almost sculptural painting and experimenting with alternative materials such as velvet canvases. In recent years, he has returned to figurative painting, integrating insights and experiences accumulated throughout his artistic journey.
In addition to Solar Plexus at Rothschild Gallery, Tenenbaum is presenting a retrospective at the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, titled Persona and Shadow: Ran Tenenbaum and Works from the Tzetlin Collection. This exhibition complements Solar Plexus by exploring the broader context of portraiture throughout history, showcasing Tenenbaum’s engagement with artistic tradition.
Solar Plexus is a reflection of Tenenbaum’s inner world: his doubts, struggles, and triumphs. It reminds us of the power of observation, the beauty of simplicity, and the ability to find inspiration in the most unexpected places.
“There’s a profound joy in being in that place where you feel in sync with the world,” he concluded, inspiring a sense of wonder.
Exhibition ends March 15. Admission free. Rothschild Fine Art, 2 Maor Moshe St., Tel Aviv. Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sunday and Monday by appointment.