Exhibitions & Works

The memorial wall From Ruin to Renewal is built from fragments of objects gathered from the home of the Kedem family in Kibbutz Be'eri, after it was burned and destroyed on October 7, 2023. Everyday items, a photograph, a chair, children's toys, once part of ordinary life, were left charred and covered in soot. In this work, they are gathered and reassembled into a new form.

At the center of the wall hangs a clock that stopped the moment the flames reached it, at a quarter to six in the afternoon. In the safe room, its door left unlocked, Omri Kedem, his wife and their son survived. Twice the attackers tried to force the door open, and twice they failed.

Objects that once bore witness to destruction now form a space of memory and continuation. Out of loss and rupture, the work reflects a persistent human impulse to endure, remember and rebuild.

The memorial wall was first shown in Eli Gross's solo exhibition "Simple Things" at ARTillery Gallery in Tel Aviv, and later as part of Exhibition 1956 in Manhattan.

Rachel Adri of Ofakim became a symbol of courage and composure for an entire country. On October 7, 2023, she and her husband David were held in their Ofakim home by armed terrorists. For nearly a full day, through wisdom, calm and words that reached the heart, she managed to win their captors' trust and prevent the worst, until security forces arrived and rescued them both.

Following her story, Rachel was chosen to light a torch at the state ceremony on Mount Herzl marking Israel's seventy seventh Independence Day, in memory of the hostages and in honor of the soldiers and security forces.

In July 2025, when Rachel returned to her renovated home in Ofakim, I brought her a mezuzah I made from an authentic missile fragment, coated in 24 karat gold leaf. Material once meant to kill is given the opposite purpose here: to guard the doorway, and the people who pass through it.

Rachel's story is exactly the story I try to tell through my work. Not material made for war, but a witness to hope, resilience and continuity.

"Gog and Magog" is a sculptural triptych: three identical maps of the Land of Israel, cast side by side. One whole in plain concrete, the second cracked and broken, and the third rising from welded missile fragments and Iron Dome debris, as if the land itself is rebuilt from the material that tried to harm it.

This piece was shown in my solo exhibition "Simple Things" in Tel Aviv, and in "The Diversity of the World" exhibition in Vienna, and the middle piece was sold at the "Gog and Magog" exhibition by the Keren Or Caesarea association. The exhibition's proceeds are dedicated to the association's projects, including rehabilitation and aid for IDF soldiers.

I'm proud to join the association in these special projects and help make a difference.

The Mezuzah of Hope is a monumental work by Eli Gross, built from authentic missile fragments fired from Lebanon, Gaza and Iran, combined with a fragment of an Iron Dome interceptor. Materials originally designed for destruction are reassembled here into a sacred object, traditionally placed at the entrance of a Jewish home.

Standing one meter tall, the mezuzah holds a kosher parchment scroll sixty centimeters long, displayed inside a transparent protective capsule. Set within the structure is the silhouette of the Land of Israel, rendered in twenty four karat gold leaf.

Placed at the threshold, a mezuzah traditionally marks the boundary between the outside world and the safety of the home. In this work, that ancient gesture becomes a contemporary expression of survival and renewal.

The piece was first shown in the artist's solo exhibition in Tel Aviv, and later in Exhibition 1956 in Manhattan. It continues the material language of The Menorah of Hope at a domestic scale, inviting anyone who passes through the door to take part in the story: not a threat, but protection and continuity.

A mezuzah created from authentic Iron Dome interceptor fragments, presented to the President of Somaliland as part of the Israeli delegation's visit to the country. It was presented by Avi Gold, an artist with ARTillery Gallery and a member of the Israeli delegation to Somaliland, the Israeli who has visited more countries than anyone else in the world. What once formed part of a system built to protect human life has now become a symbol of friendship, respect and connection between nations.

Exhibition 1956 is Eli Gross's solo exhibition in Manhattan, opened in March 2026 at Tribeca Synagogue and visited by hundreds of guests. At its center stands The Menorah of Hope, alongside From Ruin to Renewal, The Mezuzah of Hope, and dozens of additional works built from materials carrying stories from across the world.

The exhibition traces Gross's personal and material journey: from a childhood in a Hasidic family in Jerusalem, through prolonged reserve duty in the Israeli Air Force during the war, to a full devotion to art. For Gross, materials are not neutral, they function as witnesses. Every object holds a story, and every piece becomes a point of encounter between personal narrative and collective memory.

Alongside Gross's own works, five Israeli artists took part, not as outside guests but as part of a close circle of friends, collaborators and family: Avi Gold, a close friend; Moshe Tarka, a longtime creative partner; Tom Shmuely, a working partner in material and metal; Ahuva Gross, the artist's mother; and Lt. Col. Isaac T., his commanding officer during reserve duty.

Light does not deny darkness. It emerges from within it. Exhibition 1956 continues to travel across the United States, and invites more communities to host it.

Simple Things is Eli Gross's first solo exhibition, opened in July 2025 at ARTillery Gallery in south Tel Aviv, curated by Etay Gabay.

Among the works on view was the memorial wall From Ruin to Renewal, reconstructing charred objects gathered from the Kedem family home in Kibbutz Be'eri after October 7th. One side of the wall was left dark, the other grown back to life.

The exhibition marked Gross's full transition from the tech industry to a sustained art practice, and set the material language that would carry forward into later works, including The Menorah of Hope and The Mezuzah of Hope.