Biography

Yossi Ben Abu is an Israeli-born artist based in Irvine, California, working primarily in paper. He builds sculptural wall reliefs from repeated geometric forms, using their depth, color, and arrangement to create surfaces that appear to shift with changing light and the viewer’s position.

Born and raised in Tel Aviv in a family of Moroccan heritage, Ben Abu developed an early interest in geometric patterns, from the tiles of Jaffa to architectural details and the motifs he encountered through his family. He studied architecture and worked in the field before moving into web and graphic design. His experience as a deaf artist has made close visual observation central to his approach to communication and artmaking.

Ben Abu develops his paper works through hand-drawn studies and three-dimensional computer models, which he translates into templates for cutting, folding, and assembling by hand. Repeated forms become twisting fields, circular structures, and images that resolve as the viewer moves back from the individual elements. Across monochromatic compositions and saturated color gradients, small changes in angle and arrangement create shifting impressions of depth and movement.

His work has been exhibited at SCOPE Miami Beach, CONTEXT Art Miami, the LA Art Show, Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco Art Fair, and Art on Paper New York. He is represented by Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, J Williams Fine Art, EDNA Contemporary, Jules Place, and Chandler Art Gallery.

His work is held in private collections and installed in hospitality, corporate, and residential settings. Placements include Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Evrima, P&O Cruises’ Arvia, and buildings in San Francisco and New York City.