Art and designעדי נס

Adi Nes

Adi Nes is an Israeli photographer known for staged photographs of Israeli soldiers and a series based on Biblical stories.

born 1966The Soldiers photo seriesLast Supper staged soldier photographThe Biblical Stories series

Occupation: photographer
Education: Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Adi Nes was born in 1966 in Kiryat Gat

Adi Nes was born in 1966 in Kiryat Gat. His parents are Jewish immigrants from Iran.

He studied photography at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem from 1989 to 1992. In 1996 and 1997 he studied multimedia and programming at Sivan College in Tel Aviv.

From 1994 to 2000 he made the Soldiers series, staged images of IDF soldiers that deal with masculinity and homoerotic themes. One untitled work from 1999 recalls Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. A print sold at auction for $102,000 in 2005 and another for $264,000 in 2007.

In 2007 he showed Biblical Stories, a series of 14 photographs that use immigrants, refugees and people on the margins of Israeli society as Biblical figures. It was shown at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In 2012 he opened the series The Village at Sommer Gallery.

Nes is openly gay. He lives north of Tel Aviv with his partner, and they have 4 children born through surrogacy.

Adi Nes's life in 9 milestones

1966
Born in Kiryat Gat.
1989
Began photography studies at Bezalel.
1994
Began the Soldiers series.
2000
Won the Gottesdiener Israeli Art Prize of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
2003
Received the Constantiner Photography Award for an Israeli Artist.
2004
Held a solo exhibition at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
2007
Premiered the Biblical Stories series.
2008
Showed Biblical Stories at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.
2013
Received the Culture and Sport Minister's Prize for visual artists.