About the Artist
Bio
Oleg Babich is a Tel Aviv-based visual artist, illustrator, creative director, and author of graphic novels.
Oleg was born in 1976, in Ekaterinburg, Russia, in a family of Jewish descent. After receiving a master’s degree in architecture from Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts, he devoted himself to fine art and creative activities, continuing his family’s artistic dynasty, which originated from the Eastern European window-decoration artists in the XVIII century.
Oleg constantly takes part in exhibitions and art events in Israel and abroad. He also had the honor of creating projects for internationally renowned clients, such as Mazda, Danone, Unilever, Stanislavsky Music Theater, Flytrex, and many others.
Artistic Vision
Oleg’s art is visual storytelling that playfully and ironically juggles the fundamental concepts of life and death, evolution, survival, connection to nature, high powers, and the meaning of being.
“Tender Beast” is Babich’s major ongoing project. It’s an epic story describing the rise and fall of a fictitious human-like species, both so different and yet so similar to us, in an effort to find the innocence in human nature that once existed. It’s a nostalgic view of a good old era, “the childhood of mankind”, when humans used tails for balance and dinosaurs were so cute you could ride one. Nowadays, the enchanting voice of Nature is nearly inaudible within the big, glorious brains of Homo sapiens.
In Oleg’s work, the creative concept is developed in various directions and mediums. It contains oil paintings on canvas alongside works on paper in pigment liner, colored pencils, and watercolors. In his 2023 solo show at The Lab art space, Oleg took it even further and built a complex installation that also included sculptures, charcoal murals, and oil-painted wooden cutouts. Also, Oleg Babich wrote and published his art book “Tender Beast,” which is based on over 60 original handmade illustrations and is distributed worldwide.
Selected exhibitions
- 2024: “Old Gods”, Jerusalem Design Week / Curators: Dana Benshalom, Sonja Olitsky, Roni Yeheskel
- 2024: “Thinking Leonardo”, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Hanita Elizur
- 2024: “Tender Beast Remix”, pop-up solo show at Kakdelart Fest, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Grisha Tserkovsky
- 2024: “Art Poalim”, Bank Hapoalim, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Shoshi Ciechanover
- 2023: “Tender Beast”, solo show at The Lab, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Sharon Toval
- 2023: “Life at the Age of Comets”, Abraham Tel Aviv, Israel / Curators: Olga Yerushalmi and Ksenia Nazarov
- 2023: “Home, Sweet Home”, Yad Labanim Museum, Ramat Gan, Israel / Curator: Kate Finkelstein
- 2023: “Summer’s Palette”, Corridor Contemporary, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curated by the gallery staff
- 2023: “Have a Closer Look”, Corridor Contemporary, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curated by the gallery staff
- 2022: “Pixels of Consciousness”, Creators Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Dasha Ilyashenko
- 2022: “Two Truths & One Lie”, Abraham Tel Aviv, Israel / Curators: Olga Yerushalmi and Ksenia Nazarov
- 2021: “Soulscape”, Vinogradov Gallery, Berlin, Germany / Curator: Ella Rosenberg
- 2021: “Paradise”, Skizza Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel / Curator: Marina Shelest
- 2021: “Fantastic Beasts”, Skizza Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel / Curator: Marina Shelest
- 2020: “Real Artist Paints Blue”, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Ella Rosenberg
- 2020: “Antigravity”, Russian Culture Center, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Ella Rosenberg
- 2019: “Radical Creativity”, workshop and solo show, HUB Center, Moscow, Russia / Curator: Alexander Agatov
- 2019: “Love Only”, ArtNaive Gallery Moscow, Russia / Curator: Ella Rosenberg
- 2019: “Colors TLV”, Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Anna Berinsky
- 2018: Group show at the Khan Museum, Ashkelon, Israel / Curator: Ella Rosenberg
- 2018: “Art Bazaar”, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curators: Orit Granot and Orit Mizne
Residencies
- 2023: The Lab, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Sharon Toval
- 2022: Creators Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel / Curator: Dasha Ilyashenko
Awards and Publications
- Portfolio magazine
- Haaretz
- Pentawards
- Identity — Best of the Best
- Graphis magazine
- The Dieline
- Luerzer’s Archive
- Creative Review
- Index magazine, and others
Teaching Experience
- “Radical Creativity“ workshops — own development
in cooperation with Alexander Agatov
Contact
E-mail: [email protected]