Ovadia Alkara

Ovadia Alkara was born in 1939 by the name of Abdallah al-Karra in Daliyat al-Carmel. At the age of 16 he began to paint and was influenced by artists such as Marcel Janco and Rudy Lehmann, with whom he studied sculpture privately. After his military service, he moved to Ein Hod and made his living as a stage worker at the Haifa Theater and the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Theater Club. In 1962 he traveled to Paris, France, where he studied art. In 1966 he moved to the United States. In 1987 he was invited to light a torch at the Independence Day ceremony.

Alkara’s range of style developed over the years from oriental paintings of his Druse home town to neo- expressionism and neo- fauvism. Alkara’s art works reflect his search for artistic expression, his use of colors and dynamic brush movement create dense and rich compositions which are distinguished by ornamental patterning of oriental carpets.

At the beginning of his career, Alkara created stone sculptures inspired by Rudy Lehmann. These works are characterized by geometric lines and an archaic approach. In the sixties and seventies he started painting and drawing. His works from the 1970s stand out with geometric and abstract drawings. In many of them he used a grid motif or a repetition of a pattern motif. His later work presents an expressive painting with decorative and fantastical elements.