Artist Tomer Peretz on “The Art World,” Healing Through Art and on Envisioning a Shared Future
Interview by Leah Kogen Elimeliah
After October 7, ZAKA, a volunteer-based emergency response team in Israel, began the harrowing task of clearing bodies and preserving human remains from the massacre perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel, near the Gaza border. Among the volunteers was Tomer Peretz, an Israeli conceptual artist and painter. Instead of returning to his family and studio in Los Angeles, Tomer chose to run towards the chaos, dedicating himself to the rescue efforts. In the weeks following the invasion, I closely followed Tomer's Instagram posts detailing his search missions in the kibbutzim and on roads in the south. His posts featured heartbreaking footage of collected bodies and haunting images of bloodied rooms, kitchens, beds, and cribs. It was pure chaos. Tomer selflessly ventured into this hell to retrieve bodies and remains, ensuring they received a proper burial. This act of selflessness is beyond what any of us can fathom or comprehend, as we cannot truly grasp the horrors he and other volunteers witnessed on the ground. For Tomer, it was vital to bear witness and preserve a fragment of humanity, especially since that Black Saturday and beyond when it feels as though it has been erased, exacerbated by the world's reaction or lack of to Hamas' brutality and barbarism.
Having served in the Israeli military and experienced war firsthand, Tomer now saw war from a different angle. Despite his own PTSD, he understood the kind of support he could offer to those affected by the events of October 7 and its ongoing conflict. He immersed himself in all forms of healing, also serving as a healer through art and activism. This kind of dedication is not surprising, given that his art practice which includes community building and activism also spans a spectrum of mediums, including oil and acrylic painting, photography, and conceptual art. He integrates fashion and technology into his work, driven by a quest for truth and a deep connection to people and cultures. Through travel and interaction with the world, he embodies what he has learned and infuses it into his art, always giving back to the larger community. Tomer is a spiritual artist, grounded in humanity and shared love—a realist with hope, standing by his convictions while continuing to inspire his fellow artists.
LKE: As a conceptual artist, what are some ideas driving your art these days?
TP: It's a good question. When I create, I am telling a story, so the inspiration comes from the narrative itself. I wish I had more time though because everything I pretty much experience with the outside world is a story which I want to translate through art, and there are so many stories. For example, there are multiple layers to the current war between Israel and Hamas. There’s the war in Israel, the war on the streets outside of Israel, a war between Israelis. It's the first time in my life where I get to the studio and I have twenty ideas in my head and am trying to figure it all out, decide what I want to focus on that day. An overflow of inspiration I guess. But all I want to do is tell a story, find a unique perspective, that is my goal.
LKE: During October 7 you were in Israel on a family trip for Sukkot, you then left to volunteer with ZAKA. Can you talk about your experience and if and how that might have changed your relationship and attitude towards art?
TP: I am still not sure how I felt then or even now, it was an out of body experience. I don't remember my feelings when I did it, but sometimes when I think about it, it feels like it was something I did in a dream, a nightmare or a parallel universe. I might have been on autopilot. 100% of my creativity today is about my experience with this war. I believe I am still processing and trying to work through it all. It's too early to answer that question because I don't know how to explain what I have seen and felt. Now, when I get to the studio all I want to do is work with survivors, wounded soldiers, people who suffer from trauma — those are the people I can be around and the one’s I can create with.
LKE: You grew up in Jerusalem. Can you talk about how you think the city or Israel has changed over the years and if in fact it has changed at all?
TP: Jerusalem has definitely become more intense since I lived there. It feels like there is more pressure, less freedom, but maybe because back then I was a kid. It was twenty years ago. Or perhaps nothing has changed with Jerusalem and it is I who has changed. I have become more open to the world, so when I go back it feels confined or at times overwhelming. In some ways Israel has more pressure in general than here in the U.S. Some places in Israel are more laid back than Jerusalem. One thing I can say is that the people in Israel are definitely smarter.
LKE: Where do you see the art world going?
TP: My friends and I talk about the art world and what's currently happening. Then I ask myself, what is the art world? And who are the people of this world? I believe the art world is all of us and we are not going anywhere. Those who are leading this so-called “art world” are divided, separated by their ideas and beliefs, forcing some of us to be “the other.” So I say, leave them be. Every few years there’s a trend, this year the trend is to hate the Jews. I am not getting sucked into it, I dont need them — fuck them.
As far as the Jewish artists, they should just keep doing what they are doing. I have my supporters, my colleagues, my collectors, and that is all I need. I also don't feel like I am a victim of this art world because now they hate the Jews. I don't need them. These people who are haters, they go with the wind, they don't have real opinions. So I don't consider them as a voice. People love to hate, find a scapegoat, and now it's the Jews. Don't get me wrong, my career vanished, I got dropped by two galleries, by my manager, some collectors left me. But again, my attitude is to continue to foster new relationships, find new people to surround myself with. I have lost a lot of money since October 7. Such is life, I guess. For a bit I was depressed but I am over it. Whatever happens is meant to be, this is what God wants and I am truly ok with it. I am not necessarily happy with all of it, but I am dealing with our new reality.
LKE: The crossover between one’s emotion and artistic expression as an artist, can you talk about the bridge itself, what process and tools do you use in order to make it to the other side?
TP: Every time it's different. My days are not typically planned. When I get to the studio I create based on my mojo and what's happening to me or around me. Some of my art that I have been creating lately doesn't relate to emotions but more about the mojo I am in. I also don't have a specific process. I show up to the studio and pick up a brush or decide to collaborate with someone. For me, creating is about the feeling of the moment. Sometimes it's realism, sometimes it's abstract. I suffer from mild depression, so I have highs and lows, it's hard to gauge and stick to a specific process or formula. Every day I am in the studio, every day I am a different color.
LKE: What are you working on now?
TP: There is so much going on, every week I host a different group of survivors who suffered in various ways due to this war and I work with them on their healing through art. I have some survivors and soldiers who work daily in my studio, sometimes they watch me or they join in. One soldier, Yakov, has been here for five months working on his art. He was shot several times and was heavily injured on October 7 in one of the Golani stations on the border. He was in the hospital for three months and had multiple surgeries. He has shrapnel stuck in his body. Now he suffers from PTSD and so we work on his recovery through art.
I have also been working on #theytookher project, which launched June 3rd in Los Angeles in collaboration with ArtistsforIsrael and Montana Tucker. Prior to that, #theytookher was set in front of Paul Smith's flagship "pink wall" in West Hollywood. A video of Naama in bloody sweatpants as she is dragged by her hair and forced into a jeep was released by Hamas after the massacre. Nine months later, Naama is still held captive by Hamas. So far I have three pairs of these very large pants, which I, survivors and wounded soldiers work on. I hope the project will also be exhibited in New York in the next few weeks and hopefully in other large cities across the U.S.
I am working on a series of paintings with groups from elite units, kids from Kibbutz Be’eri, and hostages who have been released. Each group has a painting they are working on and I am adding a layer as well, so we are collaborating to create something meaningful. I am also working on a sculpture, a conceptual work that has nothing to do with the war in Israel, but is related to the differences in class — the poor and the rich. I am in the middle of painting a mural in Los Angeles and was recently invited to lecture in various communities around the world so that is also in the works.
LKE: The distortion of facts that we’ve all seen on the news and social media about Israel, the victims of October 7, and the war, how does that impact your personal understanding of how we receive and process data? For example, in December of 2023 you were asked to join a panel organized by Jubilee Media, a roundtable of Jews and Palestinians. Can you talk a bit about that experience, any thoughts?
TP: Yes, I was on this panel and realized so much was left out from what I said and what others had said, parts got edited and often poorly because the media tries to create and build their own narrative. I understand why they do it, perhaps they don't want to create conflict, stay neutral. But they left out the truth. I was the only one on that panel who physically and emotionally suffered from actual war and who understands the Middle East on a deeper and more personal level. These people are not from the region, maybe their parents lived in the Middle East. No one in that group experienced war as a civilian and a soldier, but I did. Listening to these people from the West talking about genocide, using all the trigger words like parrots — it’s a joke because they have no idea what is the Middle East. I was in Gaza for two years. Most people don't even know what or where Gaza is.
I also realized that I cannot speak with pro-Hamas supporters. They speak a different language made up of a different algorithm than from how I communicate, so I don't think I will participate in these kinds of debates and dialogues again. I am not here to prove anything to anyone. I am not here to educate anyone, I am at a point in my life where I am saying, think what you think, I am focusing on healing myself and others who are going through real trauma. Those who want to think whatever they want about Jews, that's fine. I saw how Jubilee Media took our multiple hour discussion and edited it to fit their pretty packaged narrative. Similar to what all media does, they fit what benefits the show, not to get to facts and truth.
I am not here to educate anyone who is not willing to listen and learn. I am tired of explaining myself. Whatever you give them, they will twist and rework it — hate is hate no matter what you say, and they will continue to hate.
Currently, I am focusing on myself, on becoming a better person, on those who need healing, not the enemy. I want to help others become stronger and better people. Giving my time to my kids, teaching them how to be strong. I believe in God and I have strong faith that something will change. God will help and guide us out of this. I am doing everything I can to focus on my inner self, and it's been rewarding because I see friends and people who need help really get better through our community work and this is where I see success — in our shared future.
