AMMI’EL & AMARYAHU
Boaz Vaadia
Description
Title: Ammi’el and Amaryahu
Artist: Boaz Vaadia (b. Israel, 1951 – d. 2017, United States)
Medium: Bronze, bluestone, and boulder
Edition: 3/5 from an edition of 5 + 1 AP
Year: 1999
Dimensions: (H x W x D): 177.8 x 254 x 182.9 cm (70 x 100 x 72 inches)
July 10, 2023: The Vancouver Biennale announces a new public art installation at Arthur Erickson Place in partnership with Colliers and Downtown Van.
For the third time in recent weeks, The Vancouver Biennale and Downtown Van have partnered with a major commercial real estate firm to bring great art to Vancouver’s downtown shopping and business district. Now on view to millions of residents and tourists passing by Arthur Erickson Place annually, Ammi’el and Amaryahu by internationally acclaimed artist Boaz Vaadia, gives people a reason to stop, enjoy the iconic modernist architecture of the building, take a selfie with the bronze figures, and think about what the artist is trying to convey about the relationship between humans and nature.
“It’s very gratifying to be working with partners who appreciate the importance of public art. We can’t underestimate the value, both personal and economic, to Instagram-worthy destinations. Public art has proven time and again to be great for business and great for improving the overall liveability of a city,” says Miriam Blume, Vancouver Biennale Director. “The business sector has become an integral patron of public art and we welcome their partnership and support.”
Israeli born artist Boaz Vaadia gained worldwide acclaim for his humanoid sculptures composed of layered stacks of stone. In 1975, after graduating from Tel Aviv’s Avni Institute of Art and Design, where he also taught from 1972 to 1974, Vaadia moved to New York to continue his studies at Pratt Institute.
To create many of his works, Vaadia trawled New York streets for materials, using slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders from construction sites for his sculptures. He has said that the city’s energy and architecture, as well as the fundamental elements found in nature, inspired his practice: “I work with nature as an equal partner…That’s still the strongest thing I deal with today, that primal connection of man to earth. It’s in the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work.”
Vaadia has exhibited internationally, with public installations at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Independence Park in Tel Aviv, and others. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, among numerous other collections both private and public. Ammi’el and Amaryahu made its first appearance in the Vancouver International Sculpture Project exhibition in 2000.
Acknowledgements
This sculpture was generously donated to the Vancouver International Open Spaces Sculpture Biennale by Patricia and Kevin Huscroft.
