GUÉORGUI
CHICHKINE

"Poetry does not impose itself, it exposes itself"

- Paul Celan

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A world where poetry dialogues with painting: this is what Samuel Ackerman aims to convey to those who contemplate his works. With over thirty oils and gouaches exhibited at Galerie Schwab Beaubourg, it's the world unfolding in Ackerman's art, a world where the various facets of human life are subtly revealed, a world that becomes populated as the artist progresses in his creation. His work oscillates between fascinating complexity and a universe inspired by Malevitch. His creativity draws from his roots and is nourished by various influences. He paints landscapes of the Holy Land with Jewish mysticism, as well as Parisian landscapes and self-portraits reflecting the turmoil of our time.

Born in 1951 in Mukachevo (Ukraine), on the border between Slovakia and Hungary, into a family of Holocaust survivors, Samuel Ackerman graduated from the Academy of Monumental Art in Uzhgorod, a place open to Western culture. Among his youthful influences are the customs of the Roma and Hutsuls, a mountainous people sung by Sergei Parajanov, the Jewish traditions of Central Europe, and Ukrainian folk art.

After completing his military service as a painter and creating a museum for his division, he worked at the Mukachevo Drama Theatre as a set designer. At the age of 22, he emigrated to Israel with his parents and brother.

In 1976, with Mikhail Grobman and Avraham Ofek, he founded the Leviathan group. This group aimed to establish a new Israeli avant-garde, expressing an Israeli Jewish existential identity through Jewish mysticism and the connection with the land of Israel, while allowing each member to find their own formal translation.

In 1984, he moved to Paris with his wife and daughter. His second daughter was born in Paris. The Parisian period gave him the opportunity to reconsider several of his formative influences, such as Russian avant-garde, particularly Malevitch and Khlebnikov, while immersing himself in the world of Dada and the École de Paris. The poetry of Paul Celan inspires him to create works imbued with tragedy, as well as more recent disasters such as the Notre-Dame fire and the war in Ukraine.

Samuel Ackerman has been exhibiting since 1970 in Ukraine, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Hungary, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. His works are included in collections at institutions such as the Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Haifa Museum, National Museum of Ukraine (Kiev), and Shevchenko Museum (Kiev).