Calman Shemi

Calman Shemi was born in Argentina in 1939 and graduated from the School of Sculpture and Ceramics in Mendoza, where he studied with Italian-Argentine sculptor Libero Badii and German Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehman. In 1961, he settled in Israel and became a member of Kibbutz Carmia for twenty years.
Comparing his work to poetry, Shemi creates art that expresses basic human experience and explores the relationship between individuals and the natural environment. While living in Israel, he developed a distinctive medium called soft painting, using a thread-less 9,000 needle sewing machine to fuse vibrant fabrics together. The result is dynamic compositions that capture the color, light, and movement of the natural world, with motifs representing land, water, sky, vegetation, and sunlight. He has extended this expressive approach across multiple media, including sculpture, graphics, and paintings on paper and canvas.
Over the past eighteen years, Shemi has held more than 70 one-man shows in the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Japan, and Israel. His work is represented by Park West Gallery and can be found in public spaces and private collections worldwide.