Ramy Shy

Biography

During my childhood in Ramat Gan of the 40's, at my elementary school, we were taught drawing and crafts under the guidance of the painter Yehezkel Streichman and the sculptor Koso Ellul. The two of them were members of a group of well - known artists in Israel called "NEW HORIZONS".

Later, at the age of 19 I took part in a drawing and sketching workshops at Avni art school in Tel Aviv.

During the 60's the city of London was an exciting cultural crossroad in the fields of music, theater, fine arts and architecture. Upon completion my military service I was on my way to study at the Northern Polytechnic in London. Later on, I gained professional experience, and I graduated from the School of Architecture.

At St. Martin Art School in London, as a part time student in the sculpture department, I was experimenting with "soft materials" as well as "ready mades" which enabled me to experience with non-traditional sculpture materials. In same occasion I presented my sculptures in collaborative exhibitions.

At a meeting with the British sculptor Henry Moore, he offered me a job as assistant in his studio at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire. I worked for him as a craftsman artist for five years. For me those years were exiting and fascinating, working with an artist who was a giant in the field of sculpture and a dear person.

In 1972 I returned home to Israel and worked at the Gad-Noy architects office and at the same time continued to create sculptures at my studio in Jaffa.

In 1978 I started to work as an independent architect / designer. During my extensive professional activity the main part of my work involved the planning of commercial and public projects.

Upon a visit to kibbutz Dafna in northern Israel, I met Dov Ben-Laysh. Dov was a scholar, astronomer and a teacher. He conducted a comprehensive study on the past and present sundials in Israel. My interest in the measurement of time and sundials emerged thanks to him. Dov encouraged me to create sundials. Dov, of blessed his memory did not live to see all these sundials.

The sundial that I have created are sculptures characterized by being the intersection of architecture and sculpting. The inspiration of this magic combination involving an object a sculpture intended to measure time with the help of sunlight was also due to our son Michael of blessed memory.

In 2015, I held a solo exhibit in my son's memory at the Architect's Gallery in Jaffa. The exhibit included sundials made of a variety of materials as well as many sketches.

In 2016, a variety of sundials made of bronze were on exhibit at the gallery of RAD-Bynet in Tel Aviv.