Yaacov Agam

Yaacov Gibstein (later Agam) was born in Mandate Palestine. His father, Yehoshua Gibstein, was a rabbi and a kabbalist.

Agam trained at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, before moving to Zürich, Switzerland in 1949, where he studied under Johannes Itten (1888–1967) at the Kunstgewerbe Schule. He was influenced by the painter and sculptor Max Bill (1908–1994).

In 1951 Agam moved to Paris, France, where he still resides.{{cite web |url= http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/7/Agam%20Reconsidered |title=Agam Reconsidered |first= Avraham | last= Ronen |date=16 July 1998 |work=The Israel Review of Arts and Letters | volume= 1996| number = 103|publisher= Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs| via= mfa.gov.il }}

Agam's first solo exhibition was at the Galerie Craven, Paris, in 1953,Exhibition at Galerie Craven, Paris, 30 October–12 November 1953. Ragon, p. 33. and he exhibited three works at the 1954 Salon des Réalités NouvellesRagon, p. 7.

and at the Le Mouvement exhibition at the Galerie Denise René, Paris, in 1955.

Agam's work is usually abstract, kinetic art, with movement, viewer participation and frequent use of light and sound. His works are placed in many public places. His best-known pieces include Double Metamorphosis III (1965), Visual Music Orchestration (1989), the fountain at the La Défense district in Paris (1975) and the Fire and Water Fountain in the Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv (1986). He is also known for a type of print known as an "Agamograph", which uses barrier-grid animation to present radically different images, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The lenticular technique was executed in large scale in the {{convert |30|ft|m|abbr=on}} square "Complex Vision" (1969), mounted on the facade of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.{{cite web |url= http://www.health.uab.edu/eyes/show.asp?durki=38101 |title=Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital |access-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead | website = health.uab.edu |archive-url= https://archive.today/20020113221759/http://www.health.uab.edu/eyes/show.asp?durki=38101 |archive-date=13 January 2002}}

Agam had a retrospective exhibition in Paris at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in 1972, and at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 1980, among others. His works are held in numerous museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art{{cite web |url= http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A79&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1 |title=Coordination II, Screenprint | first =Yaacov | last= Agam |year=1975 |publisher= Museum of Modern Art | website= MOMA.org |access-date=22 December 2010}} and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.{{cite web |url= http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/search?keyword=Agam |title=Portfolio Suite 3, Screenprint |first=Yaacov| last= Agam |year=1974 |publisher=Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum |access-date=22 December 2010}}

He is the subject of two 20th century documentary films by American filmmaker Warren Forma: Possibilities of Agam (1967) and Agam and... (1980).

In 1996, he was awarded the Jan Amos Comenius Medal by UNESCO for the "Agam Method" for visual education of young children.

He designed and created the winner's trophy for the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest that was held in Jerusalem.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

In 2009, at age 81, Agam created Peaceful Communication with the World, a monument for the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It consists of nine {{cvt|10|m}} high hexagonal pillars positioned in a rhomboid formation. The sides of the pillars are painted in different patterns and hues..{{cite web |url= http://www.pwgart.com/2009/03/agam-installation-exemplifies-peace-for.html |title=Agam Installation Exemplifies Peace for Upcoming Kaohsiung World Games |first=Jenny W. | last= Hsu |date=24 February 2009 |work=The Taipei Times |access-date=22 December 2010}}

One of Agam's more notable creations is the menorah at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in New York City, sponsored by the Lubavitch Youth Organization. The {{cvt|32|ft}} high, gold colored, {{cvt|4,000|lb}} steel structure is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "world's largest Hanukkah menorah".{{cite web |url= http://manhattan.about.com/od/eventsandattractions/a/hanukkahnewyork.htm |title=Hanukkah Events in New York City |first=Pamela | last= Skillings |publisher= | website = About.com |access-date=22 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075441/http://manhattan.about.com/od/eventsandattractions/a/hanukkahnewyork.htm |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |last=Margolin| first=Dovid| date= January 1, 2017|title=The Woman Behind the Fifth Avenue Menorah| work= Chabad.org |url= https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/3545011/jewish/The-Woman-Behind-the-Fifth-Avenue-Menorah.htm| access-date=Nov 28, 2021}}

In May 2014, Agam's piece Faith- Visual Pray was presented to Pope Francis by El Al Israel Airlines's president, David Maimon. The piece included significant symbols of both Jewish and Christian faiths.{{Cite web |url= http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/05/29/exclusive-israeli-artist-yaacov-agam-explains-jewish-kinetic-rainbow-painting-presented-to-pope-francis/ |title=EXCLUSIVE: Israeli Artist Yaacov Agam Explains Jewish Kinetic Rainbow Painting Presented to Pope Francis |date=29 May 2014 |access-date=19 September 2014 |website=The Algemeiner }}

Agam's work commands the highest prices of any Israeli artist. In a Sotheby's New York auction in November 2009, when his 4 Themes Contrepoint was sold for $326,500, he said: "This does not amaze me … my prices will go up, in keeping with the history I made in the art world."{{cite web |url= http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/art-work-by-israel-s-yaacov-agam-sells-for-record-breaking-sum-in-n-y-1.331532 |title= Art work by Israel's Yaacov Agam sells for record-breaking sum in N.Y. In an auction organized by Sotheby's, 'Growth' sets a new high for sales price received by any Israeli artist in history |first=Avital | last= Burg |date=20 December 2010 |publisher= | work= Haaretz |access-date=22 December 2010}}

In 2018, the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art (YAMA) opened in the artist's hometown of Rishon LeZion, Israel.{{Cite web |url= http://www.israel21c.org/yaacov-agam-museum-of-art-opens-in-rishon-lezion/| title=Yaacov Agam Museum of Art opens in Rishon LeZion| last= Leichman| first=Abigail Klein |website= Israel21c.org |date=22 January 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-15}} Agam told the Jerusalem Post that it is "the only museum in the world that is dedicated to art in motion."{{Cite news| url= https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Agam-Museum-in-Rishon-Lezion-celebrates-renowned-Israeli-artist-532968|title=Agam Museum in Rishon Lezion celebrates renowned Israeli artist|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com| access-date=2019-03-15}}

File:Dizingoff Square.JPG|Fountain in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv

File:Yaacov Agam sheba.jpg|Work by Agam at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel

File:Dan Hotel Tel Aviv 20120916 01.jpg|Facade of Dan Hotel, Tel Aviv

File:Agam - Eighteen levels.jpg|Eighteen Levels (1971)

File:Worlds_Largest_Menorah.jpg|Lighting of World's Largest Menorah in New York City (2016)

File:YaacovAgam_GreenMtFalls_Sculpture.jpg|Work by Agam in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado (2022)

• Visual arts in Israel
• List of public art in Israel

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book |title=Agam: 54 mots cles pour une lecture polyphonique d'Agam |first=Michel |last=Ragon |language=fr |year=1975 |oclc=2876738 |publisher=Éditions Georges Fall |place=Paris |ref=54mots}}
• {{cite book |title=Agam. Beyond the Visible |author=Sayako Aragaki |year=2007 |publisher=Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem/New York |edition=3 |isbn=978-965-229-405-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyKOTnw4m4wC}}
• {{cite book |title=Homage to Yaacov Agam. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exhibition |author=Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum |year=1980 |publisher=Leon Amiel, New York |isbn=978-0-8148-0751-4}}
• {{cite book |title=Origins and Development of Kinetic Art |author=Frank Popper |year=1968 |publisher=Studio Vista and New York Graphic Society }}
• {{cite book |title=Yaacov Agam |author=Frank Popper |year=1990 |publisher=H.N. Abrams, New York |edition=3 |isbn=978-0-8109-1897-9}}

{{commons category|Yaacov Agam}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.aejv.com/agam-bio.htm |title=Yaacov Agam's Bio |publisher=Yaacov Agam's Fine Art |access-date=28 December 2004 |archive-date=4 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704142810/http://www.aejv.com/agam-bio.htm |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/7/Agam%20Reconsidered |title=Agam Reconsidered |author=Avraham Ronen |date=16 July 1998 |publisher=The Israel Review of Arts and Letters 1996/103. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website}}
• {{IMJ-Collections|first= Yaacov|last=Agam|accessdate=September 2016}}
• {{FrenchSculptureCensus}}

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Category:Living people

Category:People from Rishon LeZion

Category:Jews from Mandatory Palestine

Category:Jewish Israeli sculptors

Category:Israeli modern painters

Category:20th-century Israeli sculptors

Category:Contemporary sculptors

Category:Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni

Category:Sandberg Prize recipients

Category:Op art

Category:1928 births