Gideon Gechtman

Gideon Gechtman was born in 1942 in Alexandria

Gideon Gechtman was born in 1942 in Alexandria, Egypt. In 1945 he moved with his family to Mandatory Palestine. He suffered from heart problems from a young age.

He studied art at the Avni Institute in Tel Aviv in 1961 and 1962. He later studied at the Ealing School of Art and at Hammersmith College of Art in London. In 1975 and 1976 he studied philosophy and art history at Tel Aviv University.

After returning from London with his future wife, the singer and actress Bat-Sheva Zeisler, he made minimalist works. He taught at Bezalel from 1972 to 1975 and at Beit Berl from 1971 to 2008. His first solo show, Exposure, opened in 1973 and showed photos from his preparation for open heart surgery.

In 1975 he published death notices for himself in newspapers, and such notices became a recurring motif in his work. He developed a framework he called Mausoleum, using artificial materials such as Formica and fake marble. In 1999 he showed Yotam, a remodeled hospital space named for his son, who died in 1998.

He won several prizes, including the Ministry of Culture prize for his life's work in 2006. He died of heart failure in 2008.