Boaz Parnas
“In such a serious field, I believe that the lightness in humor allows me as an artist to be more fragile.”
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I was born in Jerusalem, I am 17th generation in the city from my father’s side. Living in one of the holiest cities in the world has made me completely secular. I do believe in football and watch it religiously; it provides routine and escapism. I believe in what’s in front of my eyes, the most divine for me is nature and I am a firm believer of it. I scuba dive, I am a divemaster, I find endless inspiration under water.
I lived in Jerusalem most of my life besides four years in London as a child when my family moved there, so my mother, a ceramic artist, could pursue her MFA in the Royal College of Art. My father is an industrial designer, both my parents are academics.
I recently finished my BFA degree at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, including a semester abroad at The Glasgow School of Art.
I’m currently in the midst of a move back to London for career development.
Your work moves between painting, sculpture, and digital art, challenging the idea of fixed categories in art. What draws you to working across different mediums, and do you see one as the foundation of your practice?
I’m drawn to colour and material. When I’m wandering around, I collect all these items that eventually become a sculpture, a base for a painting or even a model. When I’m in the studio, I draw, paint and I think a lot: I try to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing and what should be the next step. I also think about how to exhibit a certain item, what would be its context and how to make it shine. I’m against narrowing and defining myself to a specific genre. The foundation of my practice is drawing. For me it’s the most available and easy way to express myself (also relevant to collecting ready-mades). Often, these drawings act as a blueprint for a painting or an installation but sometimes they are the finished artwork.
Future Violence From The Past Installation 2023 Photography- Alma Ben David
Birthday boy Installation 2024 photography- Lior Harel
Humor seems to play an important role in your work, both as a way of processing personal experiences and as a response to the world around you. How do you think humor shapes the way people connect with your art?
Humor is an integral part of my practice. Often people laugh and question my seriousness. For me that’s a win, a laughing and thinking viewer. I’m also content with giving the viewer a break from reality, it’s one of my main goals as an artist. This “unseriousness” leads to fragility and openness which often hooks the viewer and lets them dive into a more serious critique without ruining their mood. Satire is the perfect platform to critique without causing antagonism. I’m strongly against ruining of the mood. In such a serious field, I believe that the lightness in humor allows me as an artist to be more fragile. I think of myself as an entertainer, a modern jester. My crowd keeps me going and I hope to repay them in the same way.
When I was in high school, I wanted to partake in the global humor conversation, so I created a Facebook page called Garlic Bread Memes. It gained international recognition with 630,000 followers. This experience taught me the power of humor in creating community and connecting with others, an influence I carry into my art, where humor and absurdity reflect on the human condition.
You use everyday materials like cardboard, rubbish bins, and found objects in your work. What interests you about these materials, and how do they contribute to the themes you explore?
I often reuse ready-made objects to examine environmental and cultural relationships. It goes in hand with themes evident in my paintings such as anthropomorphized pop figures, particularly comic animals, which serve as a symbol of triumph amongst hardship. These themes are tied by the care for environmental peace.
I am very fond of material and design and tend to work with readymade objects that inspire me – but they must be dysfunctional. In the words of Richard Serra “Art is purposefully useless”. They’re either recycled or used not as intended. They also tell a story and carry a certain weight.
While painting, I am driven by an urgent need to express and repurpose emotions. Whilst using found objects, I repurpose their context and role.
I choose to include familiar elements relevant to time and place in order to challenge and rekindle traditional expectations, creating a dialogue between the mundane and the meaningful, and inviting audiences to see and ponder deeper layers of reality in the everyday.
Deep Rubbish 2023 Photography- Lior Harel
Meiner Süßen Biene (My Sweet Bee) 2022 Photography- Alma Ben David
Speed 2022 Photography- Lior Harel
Tell us a bit about how you spend your day / studio routine? What is your studio like?
I sleep too much. Post sleeping, I relax a bit and then I must take a break. They say the early bird gets the worm; I go by the second mouse gets the cheese. The mouse is far braver than the bird and cheese is a better reward. Eventually something inside me snaps and I have to validate my existence, then I create.
I’m currently in between studios due to my move abroad. My old studio used to be busy with no vacant piece of wall. Spending time in proximity to my works helps me understand the next step and the previous step. With time, the works often intertwine and adapt. Many of my new artworks are sketches and small paintings. A few weeks ago, I had my second solo exhibition, in a popup gallery that used to be a print house until recently. I needed to work site-specific and the gallery became my studio.
I think many of my best works have come from having fun and keeping it light and cheeky, doing something urgent and intuitively. Sometimes, when I’m going through a lot, I work much slower and process my emotions while working. Those are the main painting types I produce.
What artwork have you seen recently that has resonated with you?
EOW Sleeping IV By Frank Auerbach. It’s been on display in the Israel Museum for a few years, I keep returning to it on every visit. It just stands out. I find it very sincere and real. It manages to be so heavy and stiff yet dynamic. The use of colour as a material is outstanding. You can see the mastery and hard work aligning with the raw instinct, confidence and lack of sweat during the final touches of this painting. I recently painted an homage to it named ‘Love Is The Only Thought’, with the name taken from a song lyric by Headache.
Is there anything new and exciting in the pipeline you would like to tell us about?
I have a new exhibition in CBS Gallery, Liverpool. Opening on February 17th.
It is a duo exhibition together with Jude Porter Chambers to celebrate the gallery’s 10-year anniversary. We are also bound to exhibit together in Berlin and in Glasgow later this year.
Besides that, I am going to take part in Kulturfactory’s artist residency in Domicella, Italy in April.
I’m also excited to announce that i’ve finally published my new website.
All images courtesy of the artist
Interview publish date: 10/03/2025
Interview by Richard Starbuck
