Born in Poland to a Holocaust survivors. immigrated to Israel by himself in the late 60's and Studied art at the Bezalel Academy. He received a scholarship and did his Masters in the National Superior School of Decorative Arts in Paris.
Bilan is a story teller as well as a painter; His art works are filled with rich fabric of poetic images and figures, a world that composed of his childhood memories- the neighborhood circus and the life among the nomads and the gypsies.
"'Grotesque' is a suitable term for describing Bilan's works, Not 'grotesque' in the current fashionable meaning, but grotesque in its opposite meaning – an existential anxiety demonstrated by comic and bizarre gestures. Images of horror and fear are known in art history – Munch's The Scream, Picasso's Guernica, and Francis Bacon's portrait of the Pope ..looking at the entire series of works enhances the sense of the grotesque parody emerging from each one of them... covering it by a layer of irony and humor that makes it just as tragic as a tragedy declared overtly." - Yoantan Amir
selected one person exhibitions: 1975 F.I.A.C Art Fair, Paris
1976 Shatz Gallery, Jerusalem
1976 Du Haut-Pavé Gallery, Paris
1977 Shamir Gallery, Tel Aviv.
1977 Libriarie Nicaise Gallery, Paris
1979 Aranella Gallery, Paris
1980 Cour d'Ingres Gallery, Paris
1981 Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv.
1982 Aktuaryus Gallery, Strasbourg, France
1982 Cimaise Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland
1990 Galeria 86, Lodz, Poland
1992 Artists' House, Jerusalem
1993 Figures, Engel Gallery, Tel Aviv
1995 Galeria 86, Lodz, Poland
1995 Mediart Art Contemporain, Paris
1995 Mag Gallery, Paris
1996 Adine fine art Gallery, New- York
1997 Boundary Gallery, London
1997 Agi Katz Gallery, London
1998 Art Expo, New- York
2000 Art Expo, Miami
2000 The Tale and the Color Spot, Bar-Am Museum, Kibbutz Bar- Am
2005 Galeria 86, Lodz, Poland
2005 Galerie Art Montparnasse, Paris
2006 Grand Tour, Galleria J, Lodz, Poland
2007 The Closed Circle, the 17th Jewish Culture Festival, Krakow, Poland.
2007 Culture Institute, Krakow, Poland
2007 Poverty Trap, 2 worlds Gallery, Lodz, Poland
2009 New Works, Galerie Art Montparnasse, Paris
2009 Black\White, Engel Gallery, Tel Aviv
2011 Eternel Retour, Galerie Art Montparnasse,Paris
Selected group exhibitions:
1977 Aranella Gallery, Paris
1978 City Hall, Cherbourg, France
1980 Modern Art Museum, Paris
1981 Taipei Art Guild, Taiwan
1982 Contemporary Engraving, Hotel de la Monnaie, Paris
1984 20 Contemporary Engravers, Seyne sur Mer, France
1984 Arcus gallery, Paris
1987 Arsenal Museum, Granvelines, France
1989 Xylon Museum, Schwetzingen, Germany
1991 SAGA gallery, Paris
1991 Arts Print Lover, Grand Palais, Paris
1992 20 contemporary engraving around Rembrandt, Château de Bourdeilles,
Dordogne, France
1996 The Jewish Nexus, The Meizel Museum, Denver, U.S.A
2000 A view to the next Millennium, Engel Gallery, Tel- Aviv
2000 Art Expo, New-York
2004 Four Israelies in Paris, Engel Gallery, Tel aviv
2004 From Poland To Paris, Rachi Center, Paris
2006 Duo exhibition- Richard Bilan & Pawel Jocz, Art Montparnasse Gallery, Paris
2007 The Search for the Lost City, Engel Gallery, Tel Aviv
Awards & Prizes:
1971 The America-Israel Cultural Foundation prize, Israel
1976 First prize for etching artist, Orly, France
1976 Du Haut-Pavé honour prize, Paris
1988 first prize for wood engravings, Elancourt, France
1991 First prize for graphic artist, Lodge, Poland
Original artworks by Richard Bilan can be found at the Engel Galleries Israeli art collection.
Engel Gallery - 100 Ben Yehuda St., Tel-Aviv
Tel. 03-5225637, Fax. 03-5226145
Engel Gallery - 13 Shlomzion Hamalka St., Jerusalem