Tal Amitai was born in Israel, 1969. A multidisciplinary artist, engaging in painting, drawing, sculpting and installation work, she graduated cum laude from Hamidrasha School of Art , Beit Berl College in 1994, and got her B.A. (cum laude) in the Multidisciplinary Program of the Arts, Tel Aviv University in 2001. Recently she got her MFA in Creative Arts from the University of Haifa. She teaches in various venues, among them Hamidrasha School of Art.
Tal Amitai's solo exhibitions include: "We are a Bound Family" (1996); "Aleph for Ohel [tent] / Bet for Bayit [house]" (2001); "(temporary) Happiness" (2004). She has also participated in various group exhibitions in major galleries, museums, and other venues. Her works are in some of the finest collections in Israel and abroad.
In 2009 her work was shown in the "Fresh Paint 2" art fair in Tel Aviv to critical acclaim. In 2010 she was selected once again for the Independent Artist Pavilion exhibition in "Fresh Paint 3", and her work "Direct Hit / The House on Nahalal St.,Haifa" was awarded Sotheby's prestigious "Under The Hammer" prize. Her solo exhibition "(temporary) Happiness," 2004, was supported by the Forum of Art Museums and the Beracha Foundation; in 2002 and 2003 she received an Artist-Teacher Award from The Israeli Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport; and in 1996 and 1997 she won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship (Sharett Foundation).
Amitai's work, straddling the boundary line between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional, is characterized by love of craftsmanship, sensitivity to detail and an exploration of unusual materials (sewing thread, salt, plasticine, etc.). Pursuing personal, loaded themes such as home, family, childhood and couplehood, her work transcends the private case and addresses universal values with which any viewer may identify. In a variety of works Amitai tries to capture a childhood fantasy suggestive of longing and a promise of happiness, which always turns out to be an elusive, false mirage.
