The Forest Print

Shaki was born in 1945 and was raised in the great city of Athens and has been drawing from a very early age. The cultural influence of Greek history and legacy is revealed in much of his work. Color and shape were always of great interest and a challenge to him. The world of painting transported him from one style to another and he tried his hand at different styles of most of the masters. Light and shadow were also of interest to him both through artwork and the world of cameras. Later in his adult life he was a member of the Amateur Photographers Association in Athens. In 1978 he immigrated to Israel and became a member of kibbutz Dafna until January 1990. His work in agriculture greatly helped his development both as an artist and as human being and allowed him to express his feelings. The work changed him into a happier and freer person which he expressed through his art and sculptures. The colors mixed in a new and different way and the strokes were both clear and strong. He studied at Tel Hai College with Asad Azi, Daniel Peralte, David Blazer, Sarit Shapira and others from 1985-88. In 1989 Shaki became a member of the Israel Painters and Sculptors Association and held his first private exhibition in the Abba Hushi New Gallery in Haifa, curator Aviva Shemer. Shaki's influences directed him in his creative path. The Greek mythology, through Picasso, existed within and the expressionism floated on his palette and brushes. Then when the American football entered his world of art, he transferred the colorful crowd to the palette and the player's strength to the way he expressed himself while painting. Large sized canvasses permitted the football players to cavort with laurel leaves on their heads. In 1996 Shaki had a one man show at Yad Lebanim in Ra'nnana with Orna Fichman as curator. After a long break from the large sized canvasses, recent years have brought new developments. The drive to create has returned like an addiction, with the artistic rush for art and adrenaline. Light, nature, questions about life and other subjects have been captured once again by his thirst for the world of art. His has participated in numerous different exhibitions which have justified and expressed his renewed efforts. Today Shaki has once again been caught up, with a renewed drive, to discover the depths of the world around him and express what he sees and feels through his different works of art.