Celebrated Israeli painter's grandchildren get their turn at the easel in Eilat exhibit

Curator Céline Avrahami’s ‘Face to Face’ brings photographs by Michal Rubin and paintings by Gidi Rubin, descendants of artist Reuven Rubin, now through February 7

By Jessica Steinberg

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7 December 2025, 2:15 pm

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Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The resort city of Eilat wasn’t widely considered a typical arts venue when curator Céline Avrahami relocated there from London during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now Avrahami is launching her third exhibit, “Face to Face,” showcasing the works of siblings Gidi and Michal Rubin — the grandchildren of celebrated Israeli painter Reuven Rubin — from December 4, 2025, to February 7, 2026.

Like Avrahami’s past exhibits, “Face to Face” will be displayed in the Eilat Artists’ Gallery, which she uses for several months each year.

“I knocked on a few doors and had to persuade some people,” said Avrahami. “The contemporary art scene is rather new to Eilat, which has its music festivals, but art? Not so much.”

This latest exhibition is part of a longer-term project to strengthen and develop Eilat’s visual arts scene, with the support of the city’s mayor, Eli Lankri, and the Eilat Tourism Corporation.

Avrahami also collaborated with the Israeli Museums Association and ICOM Israel (the local branch of the International Council of Museums).

‘The Last Day of the Summer’ 2022 by Gidi Rubin, exhibited in ‘Face to Face,’ December 4, 2025, to February 7, 2026, at Eilat Artists’ Gallery (Richard Rubin)

The Rubin siblings, both of whom live in London, work in two distinct artistic languages, painting and photography, but share a common starting point: Observing people and their human connections.

This is their first joint show, with Gidi Rubin’s paintings and Michal Rubin’s photographs displayed side by side, said Avrahami. The Rubin siblings will attend the show’s opening, she said.

“I’ve followed them for a long time, and I’ve been quite fascinated by their work and connection,” said Avrahami, who worked with Israeli artist Zadok Ben-David during her decade in London. “There’s a real link between them and their grandfather, as they all relate to the same theme, that sense of observation of the human figure and its landscape.”

Reuven Rubin’s ‘Jaffa Port’ was hosted at Tel Aviv Museum of Art through November 2025 (Courtesy Rubin Museum)

A filmed interview with the younger Rubins, shot in London, will be shown, adding a glimpse into the siblings’ dialogue. The 17-minute film was created by Avrahami together with British director Mark James.

A selection of Reuven Rubin’s paintings was recently exhibited at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which temporarily housed the artist’s work after shockwaves from ballistic missiles during the Israel-Iran war in June damaged the Rubin Museum in Ramat Gan, the artist’s former home, and his paintings were evacuated to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art for safekeeping.

Siblings Gidi and Michal Rubin, whose paintings and photographs are exhibited in ‘Face to Face,’ December 4, 2025, to February 7, 2026 at Eilat Artists’ Gallery (Courtesy)

Avrahami’s first Eilat exhibit was “A Lithuanian Tale” by photographer Angelika Sher in 2023, followed by “Shifting Horizons” in 2024, which featured leading Israeli artists including Hila Ben Ari, Ben-David, Ori Gersht, Eilat Carmi, Meirav Heiman, Lea Nikel, and Ronen Shaarbani.

The Sher exhibit opened only one week before the bloody Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught that saw some 1,200 people in southern Israel slaughtered and 251 kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. After some of the affected kibbutz communities from near the Gaza border were evacuated to hotels in Eilat, Avrahami found herself giving tours to the evacuees in an effort to temporarily help take their minds off the tragedy.

“I was trying to give what I could,” she said.

Celine Avrahami, curator of ‘Face to Face,’ December 4, 2025, to February 7, 2026 at Eilat Artists’ Gallery (Shira Klasmer)

As it turned out, Avrahami, who was born in Ofakim and raised in Kibbutz Magen, bumped into people she knew in Eilat following the October 7 massacre, including a former teacher and the parent of a classmate, who were evacuated to the southern city.

As Avrahami’s contemporary art project in her adopted city of Eilat has taken root, it’s also expanded.

Local elementary and high school students come for guided tours, and for many, it’s their first time in a gallery or at an art exhibit.

A glimpse of ‘Face to Face,’ the exhibit opening December 4, 2025, to February 7, 2026, at Eilat Artists’ Gallery (Sassy Horesh)

Schoolchildren created artworks that have been placed in the gallery, offering their own interpretations of the art they’re viewing.

The tour guides are often students from a nearby college who are studying art and curation.

The exhibits have to be accessible to audiences, with messages that are easy to digest, she said.

There’s another theme running through the exhibits, one of optimism and the human encounter, said Avrahami, who wants to offer strength and connection to anyone who walks into the gallery, and has arranged gallery talks with several of the participating artists.

“There’s a constant flow of local artists, all in this small gallery,” Avrahami said.

“Face to Face” is now on display at the Eilat Artists’ Gallery, 2 Yotam Street, Eilat.