Lucrezia Magazine

Located on the Mediterranean coastline of Israel, the city of Tel Aviv has experienced its fair share of trauma, havoc and uncertainty. As the second largest, and perhaps most cosmopolitan city, within Israel, Tel Aviv is a popular tourist destination. Known for its openness, 24/7 culture, beaches, and lively nightlife, Tel Aviv is a buzzing art center.

Raphael Perez is no stranger to uncertainty, and has plenty to say about the bumpy ride to homosexuality. I found this out for myself one evening over the telephone, to walk away with a different perspective. We see Israel on our television screens each day. The images we receive tend to revolve around horror, terror death and destruction. Such imagery is seldom balanced with the positive, and while we do need news or updates, we need stories that promote peace, harmony and beauty.

Raphael was born in Jerusalem in 1965 and relocated to Tel Aviv as an adult. A liberal city, Tel Aviv enabled Raphael to explore his art and sexuality further. The result, as you can see on this page, and his eponymous official web site, details his personal relationships, social ideals and optimistic outlook. Whether due to culture, locality (Jerusalem, and conservatism: religious or other) family views, or all three, he lived as a heterosexual man for many years prior to his relocation to Tel Aviv, and has described the heterosexual phase as the ambivalent phase of his life.

His collection is vast, and represents significant phases in his adult life. His passion inhabits his artworks. From the naïve, to the realistic, his vivid depictions of homoerotic relationships and societies express a wish to relay the importance of harmony. More importantly, his vivid paintings function to celebrate gay life in all its representations. His portrait of a man giving birth is a subtle play on one of an issue that hotly debated in many countries: same sex parenting.

Q: Raphael, in spite of the hot political and religious climate within Israel, or climate that is featured on CNN, BBC, Fox and other networks, what keeps you motivated on an artistic level?

Raphael: While it is true that that the political and religious climate in Israel is not the best, the reality is far from what is depicted on television. The vast majority of Israelis live normal lives in which they pursue love and relationships – and art – like people all over the world, though sometimes I feel their excessive occupation with their private lives may be a reaction to what is happening around them. Tel Aviv in particular exists in an insulating bubble.

Q: You have mentioned the freedom within Tel Aviv, and the liberal views of many of its inhabitants. How important was Tel Aviv in your artistic development (compared to Jerusalem)?

R: Jerusalem and Tel Aviv exist on two different levels – both geographically and figuratively. In Jerusalem, where religious extremism is the norm, you find religious tension not only among Jews, Muslims, and Christians, but within the Jewish community itself. Tel Aviv, on the other hand, is a bastion of secularism that is open to accepting the other. It is the center of Israeli culture, including music, theater, film, literature, and art. It is also the economic and business center of the country.
Tel Aviv attracts many gays and lesbians, and in fact most GLBT members who are out of the closet live in Tel Aviv. I estimate that almost 20% of the men living in Tel Aviv are gay. As a homosexual from a religious background it was impossible for me to come out of the closet in Jerusalem; to this day, in fact, my mother says and believes that I am homosexual only because I moved to Tel Aviv.

Q: Owning your sexuality, or coming out, has been an important part of your life. My understanding, from our telephone conversation, is that you still have to deal with the reactions you may still receive by conservative people. If you had one wish regarding the conservative view on homosexuality, what would it be?

R: I think I have to answer this question by telling you more about my mother. She is a simple woman who is very religious. I love her dearly, but in my twenty years as an artist she has yet to show any interest whatsoever in my art. She sees my lifestyle as the outcome of a wrong turn I made somewhere along the way, and to this day asks me when I’m going to marry a nice Jewish girl. And I keep telling her that a wedding is just over the horizon – but as you know, the horizon is something that never gets any closer.

After my father passed away several years ago, she went to her rabbi to ask how my homosexuality was affecting his place in heaven. This very cruel man told her that because of me my father never made it to heaven and is caught in hell, eternally suffering in a vat of boiling excrement, and that will be her fate also. Now, he can believe what he wants, but can you imagine her anguish?

Q: You paint in two styles, naïve and realistic. What is the significance of working in one or the other?

R: My first foray into realism was a series of paintings depicting heterosexual relationships that were distant and devoid of satisfaction. They were based on my own heterosexual experiences: the brushwork is polished, restrained, and rigid. After this period, I produced a series of paintings that are portraits and nudes of my various gay partners though which I express my love and feelings, as well as my intense passion and desire for their beauty. During the years I was not in a serious relationship my work focused on photorealism and features many of the most famous GLBT icons of Israel.

I am more identified with the naïve style, which I believe allows me more freedom to deal a variety subjects more creatively, for example, same-sex families, Israeli soldiers, child-like renditions of gay couples, men giving birth. There is something in this style that allows me more options to express the deep love and emotions I bring into relationships.