This surreal painting by Dov Or Ner, a little-known and overlooked figure in contemporary art who emerged in Israel in the 1970s, shows that even the stuff of nightmares can be transformed. Or Ner was born in France in 1927 and escaped the Holocaust—but his parents were taken to an extermination camp where they were murdered by the Nazis. Or Ner later moved to Israel and has lived on the Kibbutz Hatzor ever since, becoming a persistent if outsider figure on the contemporary art scene there, not least because the preoccupying figure in his work—whether its in paintings, sculptures of performances—has been Hitler. Or Ner has dealt with the trauma of the Holocaust through his art by constantly confronting the Nazi leader, with humour that is mixed with a profound sense of grief and trauma. It was only last year the ninety-two-year-old artist finally got recognition at an institution in Israel with an exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum. We hope to see more of his utterly unique work in 2020.
