Art and designעפרה צימבליסטה

Ofra Zimbalista

Ofra Zimbalista was an Israeli sculptor and painter known for cast, single-color figures shown in public spaces across Israel.

1939 to 2014Cast figures painted blueSculptures in public spacesJoint exhibition with Yona Wallach

Died: 22 June 2014, Tel Aviv
Occupation: sculptor, painter
Education: Kalisher Art School

Ofra Zimbalista was born in 1939 in Tel Aviv

Ofra Zimbalista was born in Tel Aviv in 1939. From 1971 to 1975 she studied at the Kalisher School of Art in Tel Aviv. In 1975 and 1976 she studied lithography, etching and screen printing at the Artists' Workshops in Tel Aviv.

In the 1980s she began making installations with cast figures painted in a single color, often blue. Her work returns to themes of frozen motion, silent figures, and circus and theater games. From the mid 1980s her work was shown at the Open Museum in Tefen.

Her sculptures stand in cities such as Modiin, Rehovot, Rishon LeZion and Ramla, and in Steinhagen, Germany. They are also placed at colleges, hospitals, hotels and malls. In 1984 she showed a joint exhibition with the poet Yona Wallach, with Wallach's handwritten poems on paper Zimbalista made.

She lived in Kiryat Ono and Tel Aviv, and her son is the percussionist Chen Zimbalista. She died of cancer on June 22, 2014. In 2024 a gallery named for her opened in Tel Aviv.