“Kumu Pele,” an exhibition featuring the works of Avi Kiriaty

Volcano Art Center is proud to announce an exhibition of Avi Kiriaty’s work in the show titled “Kumu Pele.”  This exhibition of original paintings and prints will be on display daily, 9am – 5pm from July 18 – August 23, 2015 at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The exhibit is open to the public and free of charge although park entrance fees apply.  A special opening reception with the artist is on Saturday, July 18th from 5-7 pm at VAC gallery. 

Avi Kiriaty was born in Israel, the son of a dabbling artist, and spent his youth as a keen observer of nature and people. He met his wife on a kibbutz and soon after moved to New Hampshire where they had their first child, Keytoe.  Soon after, the budding Kiriaty family decided to move to the South Pacific in search of a warm, peaceful place amid nature. The original plan was that Hawai’i would be one of the stops along the way, but upon arrival they couldn’t resist the beauty they experienced and decided to stay. The first year was spent on Kauai, where Avi experimented for a time with oil painting. From there he moved to the Hamakua side of the Big Island.  His son, Jazz, was born on an old Hawaiian homestead there.  Avi then moved to the Puna Rainforest and began to live the life of an “artist”. His first works were sold at the Hilo Farmer’s Market, where his wife had been selling ti-dyed t-shirts.  Avi included a few works for sale and to no one’s surprise, they were an immediate success.

Since that time Avi has continued to capture the Hawai’i landscape and his observations of its people in joyful paintings and prints. For a deeper study into the Polynesian Culture, Avi and his family traveled to 19 different islands in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands.  His work has been profoundly influenced by this journey. One example of this influence is Avi’s unique collection of Storyboards.  Throughout the South Pacific many cultures create Storyboards as a form of art that documents their oral tradition and their cultural history. They have been made in many different forms, including woodcarvings and tapa cloth designs. Avi has developed his own style of Polynesian storyboard using oil paint on linen canvas. The texture, and partially the style, of these works is similar to that of his Lino-Block prints. His daughter works with him in the studio on these pieces in an apprentice fashion, filling in the layers at his direction. This working relationship has developed a line of paintings that have a unique style of their own while still being clearly Avi Kiriaty originals.

Avi’s paintings and prints hang in public and private collections throughout Hawai’i, on the mainland and in Europe. He has been featured in numerous publications, on television and has had several solo exhibitions. He has created an open edition line of paper prints from his original linoleum block prints and a limited edition of canvas prints from his oil paintings. Kahala, one of the oldest Aloha shirt manufacturers, distributed a popular line of Aloha shirts incorporating Avi’s designs.

VAC’s Gallery Manager, Emily C. Weiss said of the exhibit, “VAC Gallery is pleased to showcase Avi’s recent works, which honor our host culture, representing the beauty of both Hawaii’s landscapes and people.  We hope everyone here on the Big Island and art enthusiasts everywhere will not miss this unique opportunity to support Avi and his works by attending the exhibition.”