The first exhibition by an Israeli artist ever hosted in Morocco was inaugurated in Casablanca last month by Alona Fisher-Kamm, the head of the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco. An Israeli of Moroccan descent who currently lives in the United States, Igal Fedida transferred the unique melting pot of his identity to his paintings on display.
“One of the beautiful moments I recently experienced was attending the opening of an art exhibition of the talented Israeli painter Igal Fedida of Moroccan origins at the Arty Box Gallery in Casablanca,” said Eyal David, Deputy Chief of Mission of Israel in the Kingdom of Morocco.
“What a pleasure it was to see the growing interest in the Israeli art scene among Moroccan art lovers!” he added. “I hope that we will also see a Moroccan painter presenting his work in an art gallery in Israel, inshallah soon".
According to his website, from a young age Fedida “exhibited a keen sentience for shape and form, developing a penetrating cognition for composition and design Igal demonstrated an intuitive penchant for the Arts.”
“Paintings has always been a special process for Fedida that allowed him to draw upon his Jewish-Moroccan background and intertwined art with that of the complex, universal human pursuit of spiritual truth,” the website adds.
Fedida has two workshops, one in Zichron Ya’akov and one in Florida where he currently lives and where he started his career as an artist after many years as a successful building contractor. Many of the materials and techniques he uses are inspired from that industry, such as iron surfaces and industrial paint
“I don’t plan what I paint, I close my eyes and some unseen force drives my brush, and when I am finished, I open my eyes in awe of what present was given to me,” Fedida says about his approach to art.
Fellow artist Noam Orbach, the owner of the Shukat Gallery in Zichron Ya'akov, says that although he might virtually be the only one in the world using these materials and techniques, “the combination of materials that are not identified with the world of traditional painting and the fact that he then adds precise brushstrokes on top of the product created by the spirit, is what gives it an additional unique artistic value.”
"Sculpting in the spirit leaves room for chance,” Orbach adds. “With him, it is the precision and the addition of the text from the Bible that create a work in which his fingerprint is felt."