Born in Fez, Morocco, in 1950, into a traditional French-speaking Jewish family, Joseph Zrihen, the oldest of four brothers, is a man of two passions: medicine and art. He says he is a “doctor of the body and a painter of the soul.”
Zrihen runs a private medical practice in Tel Aviv, where he has lived with his family since his aliyah in 2011. He also paints and sculpts, and is connected with several galleries in Tel Aviv and Paris. In April, he opened his latest solo exhibition, Colors of Passion, Between Light and Emotion, at Art Gallery Rachel in Tel Aviv.
His third passion, which he doesn’t speak loudly about, but which he disclosed during an interview with the Magazine, is support for the Jewish people.
In France, where he spent most of his life (1962-2011), he was actively involved in major Jewish organizations for many years. “I was vice president of CRIF and FSJU – France’s two largest Jewish institutions. CRIF is responsible for the political representation of the Jewish community, and FSJU for all social, educational (Jewish schools), and cultural aspects of the Jewish community in France,” he explained.
During the current war, like many Israelis, Zrihen felt a need to contribute to the efforts of the IDF: “I offered free medical services to the soldiers,” he said.
Zrihen brought this attitude and a strong sense of Jewish unity from his home. “[In Morocco] we lived in a Jewish community. My parents were teachers, and my father was the principal of a Jewish school. When we moved to Toulouse, France, when I was 12, there was a large emigration of Jews from Algeria, and my father got involved in helping them,” he recalled.
He said that it was his parents, Rose and Leon, who opened him up to art. From a young age, while still living in Morocco, young Zrihen visited European museums with his family. (They traveled a lot, so he also regarded immigrating to France as part of his travel adventure.)
However, he underlined, it was not only the art he saw in museums that left a mark on his artistically sensitive personality but also the first 12 years of his life in Morocco. “The colors, the sky, the Jewish Moroccan cuisine of my mother – they all influenced my ‘Oriental sensuality,’ which I now express in the colors of my paintings,” he explained.
Apart from intensive colors, Zrihen said, five words define his artwork: poetry, passion, emotion, travel, and sharing. “Since childhood, I was strongly influenced by abstract expressionism and lyrical abstraction. I define myself as a colorist.”
He sets himself the goal of bringing joy with his paintings. “I believe that art can drive away sadness and sorrow,” Zrihen said. “To me, the most beautiful and simplest definition of painting was given by Leonardo da Vinci: ‘Painting is poetry that can be seen.’” Zrihen added that instead of paper, he uses canvas for his poetry; and instead of a pen, a brush.
“My way of painting is also a maelstrom of textures and materials that symbolize our civilization in complete mutation and search for meaning. By proposing new horizons, I transform my solitude to bring emotion, beauty, and joy to others.”
Asked whether art is his hobby or profession, he replied: “[It is] my hobby, which I perform as a profession.”
He said that in everything he does, he values quality, and his paintings and ceramic sculptures are planned and intentional, too.
“I have been painting and drawing regularly since adolescence. Painting fulfills a need for expression for me,” noted Zrihen.
Art has always been present in Zrihen’s life, but medicine became the leading path. “As a young man, at the same time I studied painting, political science, and medicine, until my Jewish mother decided: ‘You will be a doctor, my son!’” He became a doctor and has loved his profession very much.
“I started studying psychiatry, then developed a passion for internal and general medicine, and I became a specialist in medical acupuncture and geriatrics. I also specialize in infectious and parasitic diseases; thanks to that, I was able to treat leprosy in India. Being a doctor is a fascinating profession that requires constant scientific curiosity and is deeply satisfying on a human level because of the services I provide.”
Having said that, Zrihen added that his professional years in Toulouse, then in Paris and Tel Aviv, never diminished his passion for art.
The work of a Franco-Israeli artist
APART FROM his latest exhibition in Tel Aviv, Zrihen is preparing two new solo shows at Paris galleries, coming this fall.
He presents himself as a Franco-Israeli artist, and over the years French has remained the dominant language in his life (starting in Morocco and, of course, in France, and in Israel).
Zrihen is a family man – the father of five (four of his children live in Israel) and grandfather of 10. Aliyah was a family decision, not just his own. They had a good life in France, he had a successful career, but 14 years ago they realized that it was time to move to Israel for good.
The large French-speaking “enclave” in Tel Aviv (and probably the demand for French-speaking doctors in Israel in general) also made it easier for him to make the professional transition; after making aliyah, it allowed him to continue to develop his medical practice.
At the recent opening of his exhibition in Tel Aviv, I felt as if I were in France; at the vernissage, most of the viewers spoke French.
So, in a way, Zrihen lives a French life in Israel. But despite all this, he said, he has no nostalgia or longing for France. He likes to go there to visit, but his home is Tel Aviv, and he does not regret moving here.
Tel Aviv is the city he has always adored. “This is my city! When I visited Tel Aviv as a young man, I told my friends that I wanted to live next to Ben-Gurion’s house; so when we made aliyah [years later], I fulfilled that dream. In the first year and a half, we lived close to Ben-Gurion’s house in Tel Aviv.” Later on, they changed neighborhoods but stayed faithful to the city.
In Israel, perhaps even more so during the war, he feels that he can fulfill his two main passions in life: healing bodies and heartening souls. Optimism seems to be his trademark and his favorite word.
For more information: https://www.instagram.com/jozrihen.art/.