I am both an artist and architect who lives and works in Israel.

I have always been interested in the relationship between construction and deconstruction. In my early works I painted colorful compositions in oil on canvas, in the cubistic spirit. I later began exploring the other side of creation and started to destruct the surface. Working on cork boards, (the work is on either blank slates or while using manipulation on maps) using a wood scorching pen, screwdrivers and hammers, I scratch, tear, engrave and burn the surface by splashing wine, ketchup, mud or iodine on it.

Closely surrounded by expressions of big narratives, my initial drive has always been a much simpler, smaller and childlike place of desire, the power to demolish and then rebuild. This basic desire came from a place with no rules, no library of knowledge, science or engineering, just an authentic instinctual expression.

The first stage in my creation process is done without thought, an intuitive process which embodies an attempt to release control. I then let myself lose control and create through an internal, intuitive drive. Only at the end does my conscious message and point of view emerge.

The journey turns towards revealing the beauty within the ugliness and abomination, creating an emotion full of anticipation for a better world. Hinting at man’s strength, belief and will to create wholeness, a normal and full life. My works are an expression of hope in the face of chaos.

My art is a universal in nature. My work combines Pre-historic motifs and elements with child-like symbolism and style.

I am interested in the region on the Middle East’s history, archaeology, ancient scripts and languages. My works are rooted in the graffiti and the iconography of the Levant and fuses contemporary art aesthetic while addressing the status of men in the universe. My works contain many layers that are the outcome of my personal experience, my cultural background, both personal and collective history and the neighborhood where I reside.

Avner Sher (born 1951, Israel), one of Israel’s most successful commercial architects, has earned his B. Arch, Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and graduated his Art studies at Haifa university. During the early years of his career, sher’s style was mainly inspired by an urban and architectural aesthetic. An encounter with graffiti and vandalism on a public restroom’s wall sparked the birth of a new artistic form of creation. Sher embraced the raw and violent nature of the vandalistic act and utilized it to create a new style. His works are the result of a very physically demanding process of injuring, scratching, etching, engraving and scorching large cork and wood panels.

The art of Avner Sher is a universal in nature. His works combine Pre-historic motifs and elements with child-like symbolism and style. At the same time, it is a sophisticated art of a well-trained architect that retains the freshness of autodidact artist. Avner Sher’s art works have been the subject of various solo and group exhibitions including his latest solo shows at  Tel Aviv’s artist house in Israel, Scope Miami art fair and at The Koninklijke villa, Belgium. His exhibitions were reviewed in magazines such as the Arts Observer and Auction. His work is represented in public and private collections throughout the world, including Israel, Germany, France, Belgium, NY and Florida.

Watch Avner Sher's Scratching images video

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