[Next picture] Official website © Oren Elbaz. Pictures used with permission.

Oren Elbaz
Gay Masculinity And Self Identity

Oren Elbaz was born in Natanya, a peaceful coastal town in Israel, on July 29, 1976. As a child, he was deeply absorbed in his inner imaginary world of fairies and dragons. A family vacation to Paris opened his eyes to a world different from the shabby, shapeless houses of Natanya. Paris' wonderful architecture, it's luxurious palaces and gardens, and it's World renowned museums filled with priceless art became an important source of inspiration.

At 12, Elbaz started drawing and painting. He believes it came from an urge to reshape the world into a better form, and to somehow integrate his own inner world with the 'real world'. His inner world needed to come out and it came out as art.

As he grew older, Elbaz was advised to study something practical since many in Israel does not see art as a 'decent' occupation. He studied to become an electrical engineer, wanting to join the Israeli High-Tech industry. But at the same time, he spent long hours at the library, sifting through art books.

During those years, his interest for art grew increasingly stronger. He began experimenting with new techniques, and to develop a personal style, colorful and dramatic, influenced by post impressionist painters. The themes were always the classical ones, portraits, landscapes and nudes. But there were never two alike. Every painting was used to experiment with a different technique, or a new color combination.

Elbaz' university years were also his years of coming out of the closet. He was always quite confident that living openly and without fear was the only way for him. According to Elbaz, there wasn't even a need for a lot of courage. The atmosphere towards the gay community in Israel was becoming very positive during the nineties. And when Dana International won the Eurovision contest, this gave many young gay people in Israel a reason to be proud.

After graduating in 1999, Elbaz joined the Israeli Air force. He became an officer and the intensive and demanding job made it necessary to put his passion for art aside. Soon, however, he realized how important art had become for him, as means of self expression, and in fact, as a way of life.

He also felt like he was being drawn back into the closet, not because being gay is forbidden in any formal way in the Israeli army, but because it makes a lot of things more complicated. He felt that as a commander, it would be best for him to keep his sexuality to himself, save a few trustworthy friends. Today he is not sure that this was the right decision to make, because he thinks it could have meant a lot to other gays under his command if they knew there was someone understanding and supportive for them to turn to.

Eventually Elbaz decided to pick up painting again, this time feeling more mature and better focused. He began researching the themes of masculinity and self identity, getting inspired by objects from his immediate surrounding; running shoes, boxing gloves, his uniform, his gun. All the objects which signified masculinity to him. He felt a need to settle the conflicts in his life. Was he an artist or a scientist? Was there a contradiction between being the tough officer he was, and the fact that he was gay?

He began painting images of muscular men. He had wanted to do this for a long time, but he had still felt a little uncomfortable with explicit masculine nudity and homo erotica. His first paintings expressed his mixed emotions towards these images of physical perfection. He was fascinated by them, since they represented the essence of manhood, which he yearned to unite with. But he also despised them. To him they represented the vain culture of muscle adoration, a culture which erases the human soul and individuality. In all of these works the faces are cut off, since he felt these men have no personal identities. The overdeveloped torsos make them all look alike. They are no longer human, but rather slaves of some kind.

Elbaz spent a total of more than 5 years in the army, until he received a honorable discharge at the rank of Captain. Those years were not easy for him as it became increasingly apparent to him that he was in the wrong profession. But he still appreciates this stage of his life as a time of personal growth and development.

Today Oren Elbaz is doing what he loves to do. Painting and creating art. Even though some of his fellow artists have advised him to study art in more depth, he feels that what you actually do is more important than where you have studied. His paintings teach him by themselves and he takes something from each and every one of them and transfers it to the next. He has a natural approach to art and believes art should be esthetic and communicative. If there is a message to be conveyed, it should be read in between the lines, and definitely not interfere with the viewers' full esthetic experience. An artist must never loose touch with his audience and insists that he would not feel the drive to create if it wasn't for the people who appreciate his work.

Elbaz has participated in a number of group exhibitions and projects. 'True Colours' is an art project produced by 'Aguda', the Israeli GLBT organization, every year for Gay Pride. Together with other contemporary Israeli gay artists like Moshe Gershuni, Raphael Perez, Raffi Dayagi, Oren Elbaz has been featured to show the public the extraordinary talent and depth of the Israeli gay art community. Elbaz' next big goal is to have a solo exhibition in one of the local galleries. While the male nude is still his favorite theme, he is now working on putting a more personal angle to this. He wants to express more warmth and intimacy between men, and he is also planning on returning to his old world of demons and mythical creatures, and to bring it to life once more, as a series of paintings.