Ariel Hacohen is a visual artist from Jerusalem. His work experiments with a variety of photographic approaches, including snapshot and staged photography, digital image processing, and video art. He also creates photographic sculptures using computer-based modeling and casting techniques.His oeuvre focuses on the interface between history, memory, and the human body. Across his studio-based work, he seeks to create images, videos, and sculptures that appear both multi-temporal and timeless.

Hacohen is the laureate of the 2024 Rappaport Prize on behalf of the Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Foundation and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Notable recognitions include the RCA-Metro Imaging Award, the Clore Foundation Scholarship, the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) Scholarship, the Bezalel-Presser Award for Excellence in Photography, the Yossi Breger Award, and the Hecht Foundation Prize for Young Artists. Hacohen is currently a participant in the long-term Residency Program of the Art Cube Artists’ Studios in Talpiot, Jerusalem.

Who are you?

I am a visual artist based in Jerusalem.

What is your area of Expertise?

My practice is photography-centered. I work mostly with photography, video, and 3D digital modeling.

How do you find inspiration?

I find a lot of inspiration in classical music that has accumulated historical charge. I love the idea of a melody that never stops gaining new meaning, and that has the power to raise new images to mind.

Tell us a little more about the work you chose to share.

“Changing of the Guard” is an inkjet print from the series “Gospels”. Using footage filmed in early 2023 in southern Israel, it depicts homing pigeons forming a dilapidating structure against a smoky backdrop. They seem to melt into one another, and it remains ambiguous whether they are rising or dropping.

What is your work process?

My work often combines multiple photographic layers taken on different occasions, creating a sense of both multi-temporal and timelessness.

One special moment that happened to you this year?

The opening of my solo show at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

One Piece of advice?

Energy creates energy. Staying in motion matters, even when the direction is not yet clear.

What’s next for you?

I am planning a new video project to be filmed in Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest.