How the artists behind Shtisel brought Akiva s journey to life
The artist Alex Tubis in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 12, 2021. To capture the tensions faced by a young ultra-Orthodox artist, the creative team behind the hit Israeli TV show Shtisel hired two painters who understood the stakes. Michal Chelbin/The New York Times.
by Marisa Mazria-Katz
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- In the middle of the night in a Jerusalem alleyway, a black-hatted yeshiva principal stands before a blazing mass of canvas. He has just set fire to his youngest sons paintings portraits of the sons deceased wife and he is somberly watching them burn.
Akiva Shtisel, the protagonist of the eponymous series, is a genius artist, and his gorgeous paintings lie at the heart of the show about Haredi life. In the most recent season, his paintings of his deceased wife hold much of the emotional weight of the show, symbolizing Akiva’s grief and his struggle to develop a new relationship and move on.
But Alex Tubis, the real artist behind the genius paintings, had never heard of “Shtisel” when he was brought on for its second season, even though the series had already won wide acclaim in Israel for its first season. When the show’s art director reached out to the Russian-born painter, who now lives in Nes Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, the artist asked whether the gig would be paid he thought it was a student production.
Akiva Shtisel, the protagonist of the eponymous series, is a genius artist, and his gorgious paintings lie at the heart of the show about Haredi life. In the most recent season, his paintings of his deceased wife hold much of the emotional weight of the show, symbolizing Akiva’s grief and his struggle to develop a new relationship and move on.
But Alex Tubis, the real artist behind the genius paintings, had never heard of “Shtisel” when he was brought on for its second season, even though the series had already won wide acclaim in Israel for its first season. When the show’s art director reached out to the Russian-born painter, who now lives in Nes Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, the artist asked whether the gig would be paid he thought it was a student production.