"Not Everything is Rosy" • Solo Exhibition, From the Haifa Landscape to the Artists' House in Tel Aviv – An Artist's Personal Journey | 8.10.26

This column for me is an opportunity to pause and reflect on my journey as an artist, a journey of searching for themes that recur over the years and bodies of work that take shape and change. The opening of my solo exhibition, "Not everything is rosy", on October 8, 2026, at the Artists' House in Tel Aviv, is a significant milestone for me and an opportunity to look back on the path I have taken.

As a reporter and columnist, this is also an opportunity to share from my experience some points to think about with artists starting out, about perseverance, searching, building a body of work, and the ability to give the process time.

An artist, in my opinion, is always in search and in the process of becoming.

From the Haifa landscape to a new artistic path

Over the years, my identity as an artist has been largely established through landscape paintings: the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, and especially Bat Galim. The sea, the houses, and the people have become part of my pictorial language.

This connection was expressed in the solo exhibition "Between Waves and Troughs", which I presented in 2024 at the Chagall Artists' House in Haifa, curated by Rina Ganusov. In retrospect, the exhibition took on additional significance after the Artists' House, which had been part of the city's artistic scene for 72 years, closed in early 2026.

Two years later, the path leads me to the Artists' House in Tel Aviv and to another body of work.

Drawings and Paintings – A Study That Has Continued for 18 Years

About eighteen years ago, I began to explore the theme of fatherhood and the relationship between a father and son through drawing and painting. The first works were created in charcoal and later in oil paints.

The research was not continuous. I returned to it over the years. In passing episodesIn between, I returned to the landscape and other subjects, but it didn't really disappear.

in the last two years The focus on the subject has been increasing., and in the past year, especially after the passing of my mother last year, I have had a significant creative burst. The experience of being orphaned by both of my parents opened up something in me that had been repressed for years.

As I looked back at the image of father and son, another question arose in me: Who am I in this story?

I found myself as a child in the story. I realized that this research is not just an observation of the relationship between father and son, but also a personal journey into my place as a son.

We remain the children of our parents.

Especially these days, with the passing of Writer Yehuda AtlasI returned to his familiar book, "והילד הזה הוא אני", published in 1977Almost fifty years have passed since then, but the idea at its center remains relevant: the world and childhood have changed, we have grown up, but our connection with our parents continues to accompany us.

We can be fifty, seventy, or ninety years old and still carry within us something of the child we were.

The visible from the hidden

An artist spends a lot of time alone with his work, and sometimes an additional professional eye is needed to recognize things that he himself does not yet see.

The curator Ilana Carmeli-Lenner She recognized the potential in the works and a body that seeks to develop, and encouraged me to submit them as candidates for an exhibition at the Artists' House in Tel Aviv, To which I was admittedFrom that initial nucleus, a new series of works was gradually built, created especially for the exhibition.

Thus, works that began as part of a personal search gradually became a complete body and an exhibition. "Not everything is rosy".

""Not everything is rosy" – a name born from the works

God "Not everything is rosy" It arrived only after the body of work had already begun to take shape. It was born from observing the series and from the gap between what is visible and what is hidden beneath the surface.

The color scheme has also changed. Those familiar with my landscape paintings are used to a richer and broader palette, whereas in this series the palette has been reduced mainly to cobalt blue, ochre yellow and white. The sea, which has accompanied my painting over the years, takes on a different role here: it is no longer just a familiar Haifa landscape, but an inner space of Memory, proximity and distance.

So is the name "Not everything is rosy" It's not just a reference to color, for me it speaks to the complexity that lies within the relationships, memories, and experiences we carry with us, and the things that aren't always visible at first glance.

A new chapter, not a conclusion to the journey

On October 8, at 19:00 PMMy solo exhibition will open at the Artists' House in Tel Aviv, "Not everything is rosy"For me, this is a personal and meaningful moment. Works born from memories, questions, and a search that has lasted for years leave the studio and meet the audience.

When I look back at the path I took, I realize how much the work changed with me. Themes I thought I had left behind returned, and memories took on a different meaning.

We don't always know where the artistic path is leading us. We need to keep working, searching, and most importantly, allow ourselves to change.

For me, "Not everything is rosy" It is a meeting between who I was and who I am today, between the landscape, memory, my parents, and the child I still carry inside me.

I invite you to come, observe – and especially to meet with me and the works in the exhibition.

"Not everything is rosy" | Yossi Lubelsky
Solo exhibition
Opening: 8.10.2026 | 19:00
Closing date: 31.10.2026
Artists' House, 9 El-Harizi St., Tel Aviv
Curator: Ilana Carmeli-Lenner

Exhibition visiting hours:
Sunday – Closed
Monday–Thursday – 10:00–13:00, 16:00–18:00
Friday – 10:00–13:00
Saturday – 11:00–14:00