Gabi Cohen Gallery Safed

{{Infobox
|title = Mayaan Art Gallery
|image        = [[File:Space holder.jpg|215px|alt=Abuhav Synagogue]]
|header1 = Hebrew:
|data2  = מעיין ארט גלריה
|header3 = Pronunciation:
|data4  = Ma’ay-an Art
|header5 = Translation
|data6 = Art of the Well
|header7 = Other Names:
|data8   = Gabi Cohen Gallery
|header9 = Description:
|data10   = Native Tzfat artist who works and exhibits in the city.}}

Gabi Cohen is a native-born [[Galleries-and-Artists-of-Safed|Tzfat artist]] who has established a small art gallery in the center of the [[Old City Safed|Old Jewish Quarter]].

== Background ==
Gabi was born and raised in [[Safed|Tzfat]]. His artistic talents were recognized by his teachers while he was still young but his family didn’t have the resources to pay for art classes, special teachers to help him nurture his talents or even art supplies. One of Gabi’s teachers in school guided and encouraged him but formal art training was not accessible. During his army service Gabi was mentored by the well-known Tzfat artist Shaul Victor who helped him refine his technique. Gabi continued to develop his art as a hobby, always searching for new and interesting ways to express himself.

When Gabi married and started a family he began to work with the [[Livnot ULehibanot]] work crew. The workers were engaged in many different types of work, including renovations of homes of disadvantaged and elderly residents, excavations, rebuilding projects in the Old Jewish Quarter of Tzfat and general maintenance work in the city. Gabi always added an artistic finish to his work, painting murals and finishing projects with a bit of mosaic which satisfied his need to create beauty.

== Gallery ==
In 2005 Gabi helped Livnot U’Lehibanot renovate a small area on [[Art Gallery Street|Yosef Caro Street]]. The project rebuilt a collapsed 16th century building. Gabi continued to repair the small room in his spare time after the Livnot project had completed. He slowly created a studio where he could work and exhibit his art. With time, his style developed and changed as he began to experiment with different mediums and expressions.

== Techniques ==
As a youngster Gabi didn’t have access to art materials. This encouraged him to develop his own unique style which he continues to expand today. Gabi’s art involves blending and combining different materials such as stones, oil paints, plaster and glass into combinations of sculptures and paintings. He also creates mosaics of stone and glass. Gabi paints in oils, watercolors and acrylics on canvas.

== Inspiration ==
Gabi is inspired by the stories of the Bible and he is influenced by both modern and ancient sources. His multi-media work includes acrylic and oil paintings as well as glass mosaics and other varied types of multi-media work. Some of his popular oil on canvas paintings include The Pomegranate, Ruth the Moabite, King David and Moses and the Burning Bush. He also experiments with Kabbalistic-inspired art and he displays a wide variety of Kabbalistic Jewelry.

== Exhibition ==
Gabi’s permanent exhibition, Ma’ayan Art, is located on Yosef Caro street in the Old Jewish Quarter of Tzfat. He is a member of the Safed Artists Association and has exhibited extensively throughout Israel.

[[Category:Safed]]
[[Category:Jewish Art]]