New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS): Biblical stories have been a religious, spiritual and political inspirational source for many artists, and so they have been to Abecassis
Raphael. But the Israeli artist has moved away from old-fashioned landscapes to paint rich stories in bright colours that are now being exhibited here.

Pioneering the language of pop art in Israel are a few artists, along with Raphael, whose works are mounted at an exhibition that was inaugurated Thursday
evening at Visual Arts Gallery at the India Habitat Centre.

Of the six artists, only Raphael is visiting India and explaining his work. The 61-year-old said that he has recreated scenes from the "150 Psalms of David" using cryptic language and many religious motifs that symbolise literal translation of the hymn.

"I have read chapters of the Bible and these psalms narrate a song that comes with a message. So, I just close my eyes to dream about the song and re-imagine it in my mind and put it down on canvas," Raphael told IANS in an interview.

Other than decoding the meaning of a psalm through art, Raphael also captures hidden visualisations from Kaballah (Jewish mysticism) and organises them into
stories or vignettes. There is a burst of bright and happy colours in all his work,
a technique that developed during his four decades of art journey,

Jewish art continues to engage and attract Raphael, who first forayed into the artistic world when he was to present his future wife with a 'ketubah' - a
traditional marriage document.

Though this document has been embellished through the centuries, Raphael though it was too plain - so he decorated it in exquisite detail.

"Though the Rabbi refused to take that decorated document, when Raphael showed it to the audience present at his wedding, they loved it. He got three orders on the same day," curator Motti Abramovitz told IANS.

Abramovitz is also the director of the Bruno Art group that has been instrumental in bringing many Israeli artists to India.

Calling Raphael a “modern Biblical artist", Abramovitz pointed out that he still practices 6-8 hours in a day and has won many art awards.

A hard-core traditionalist, Raphael's artwork brings to life the old technique of "decoupage" - decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects.

This technique transforms a conventional painting into a three-dimensional creation by lifting layers.

"He cuts the layers of the painting, separates them manually and then plays with the layers of the work to create a sense of dimension and perspective," Abramovitz said.

Works of other artists like Yaacov Agam, David Gerstein, Calman Shemi, Dganit Blechner and Yuval Mahler are also on display in the group exhibition.

It will conclude Nov 23.