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 KOREN is a bewitching artist. A builder. An architect. A product designer who delves into the chemistry of his art. Koren is in love with materials. He touches them, thinks about them, works with them, explores them, and deeply understands their components, properties, and the chemical processes that create them. For Koren, 

.material is an integral part of the equation with the concept of form

Koren, the artist, touches, breaks, repairs, and creates works that evoke nostalgia for the wilderness and the

untouched, wild landscape. He creates with materials that are simultaneously the form, driven by infinite curiosity to understand their components, properties, and the chemical processes that shape them—materials that are ancient, originating from afar, yet present

On large wooden surfaces, Koren creates unique artworks painted and sealed with soft concrete. He carves

into the concrete, cuts, wounds, digs, paints, mixes it with other materials, adds, removes, destroys, and rebuilds. His work techniques and carving methods have a multidimensional expression. As one looks deeper, they are drawn into the details, connecting to nature, the earth, the evolution of the planet, and lost civilizations. Within the layers of concrete lie entire worlds that peek through, telling a captivating story.

In his unique way, Koren deciphers the mystery, magic, and enchantment of ancient writings, creating his own library of codes that converse with prehistoric cave paintings, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mayan cultural symbols, cuneiform scripts, and the decorative motifs of ancient Greek pottery.

Koren explores evolving societies, primitive ancient cultures, and early civilizations. He studies the collective rules, anthropological dynamics of the Fertile Crescent, Sumerian and Akkadian cultures, ancient Egypt and its pharaoh dynasties, early Islam, the Persian Empire, Latin cultures, the Inca, and more. According to him:

"Sometimes, the feeling is like mapping various worlds—maps of time, maps of place, like atlases. I’m deeply drawn to the geographic thought and understanding of ancient maps. Why were they drawn the way they were? What was behind them? What did they want to show us—and, more intriguingly, what did they wish to hide from us?

"My imagination is captivated by astronomy and abstract concepts of time and expanding space, black holes and voids, singularities, regions of collapse and collision of matter and energy. I’m also drawn to horizons, unstable expanses, rivers, seas, oceans—I define water as unstable ground. Spontaneously, I’m profoundly influenced and connected to natural sciences and nature itself—what it provides and reveals to us. Flora, fauna, inanimate objects. States of matter, their relationships, and the interactions that occur—or could have occurred. The seasons, light, and shadow. The Nile River, with its two sources—the Blue and White Nile—fascinates and excites me. It’s like a jewel, like an explorer who discovered something wondrous, like Marco Polo, whom I’d love to meet. It’s a marvelous world—a miraculous world of thrilling phenomena."

The exhibition showcases large works of soft, cast concrete on wooden boards adorned with a wealth of figures and code-like symbols reminiscent of the monumental stone tablets found in temples and tombs of 

the ancient world. The primal textures and materiality connect directly to nature and the earth.

Koren shares:

"I began creating and being curious at a very young age—interested in materials, thinking about them, touching them, working with them.

"I was drawn to the ancient, the hidden, what had been and ended its role, and the information it left behind. I was fascinated by history and imagined myself in ancient worlds, rising and falling empires. I always sought things to touch, feel, break, and survive. I was born with a yearning for the wilderness, for raw, untouched landscapes. I never liked nor accepted the phrase 'like a stone left unturned.' What is something unused, unnecessary? I rejected that idea. I was drawn to my father’s stories—he was a construction engineer who worked with concrete and materials and loved to teach. From him, I fell in love with materials, the chemistry of concrete, cement, sand, and water." The creative process is fascinating and unique. According to him

"My creation techniques are very primitive and combine several sub-techniques interconnected and reliant on one another. The magic for me lies in their interactions. I create the material and then create with the material."

The tones the painting takes on and maintain a restrained monotony, concealing a storm beneath the surface. Sometimes, what seems soft is actually hard. What seems like love turns into hate. The proportions and composition are undefined, emphasizing the subjectivity inherent in the artist's unique perspective. There is a sense of primality captured here—a play on the idea and its opposite. A dance or a battle, brutality or softness, hard or soft, death or life . The unique  code-based language of the works, deconstructs the narrative into its most basic, primal components. There is a recurring connection—sometimes overt, sometimes hidden—leading to the same story, regardless of the time from which we approach it. History takes on a new cycle each time.

These days, what interests me most is a comparative analysis of what I perceived as a child versus what I perceive now. This entire conceptual world—have the insights changed? Have new ones emerged? What is the relationship between the old and the new, the ancient and the contemporary? What is the relationship between the concepts from the worlds that inspire me and the reality of my present-day life? I am searching for the logic, the aesthetic interpretation, the aesthetic rulebook of material and form. For me, this is the Holy Grail: to try to understand a little of it and perhaps even to write a part of it".

Curators : Dr. Galia Duchin Ariely and  Michali Adler- Global Art Gallery, Tel Aviv

אתר האמן : www.Korenart.com