ARTillery by Eli Gross

Eli Gross is an Israeli artist born in Jerusalem and raised in Jerusalem and Beitar Illit, within a Hasidic family of seventeen children. His childhood and early adulthood took place in ultra-Orthodox educational frameworks, which led to an arranged marriage at the age of twenty. Following his marriage, he completed national civil service and subsequently entered the high-tech industry.

For approximately seven years, Gross worked in technological roles while raising two children and maintaining a family life.

With the outbreak of the war, he was called up for reserve duty and served for over 400 days in a technological unit of the Israeli Air Force, holding significant operational roles over an extended period.

At the beginning of the war, Gross began working with art alongside his reserve service and technological career. During his military service, he was exposed to tangible materials of war, including missile fragments and interceptor remnants. These materials gradually came into his possession and became the raw material for his artistic practice. His engagement with art emerged directly from the material itself, without prior planning or intention to pursue an artistic career.

As the war progressed, Gross created the Menorah of Hope, a large-scale sculptural work made from metal and fragments of war. The Menorah was installed at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and became a public focal point throughout 2025. Following its installation, Gross made the decision to leave his career in high-tech and dedicate himself fully to artistic practice. During this period, after nine years of marriage, he also went through a divorce.

After resigning from the technology sector, Gross founded the ARTillery Gallery, he presented a solo exhibition in Tel Aviv and participated in several group exhibitions. Working from his studio in south Tel Aviv, his practice explores the relationship between materials of war, personal identity, his Hasidic background, and contemporary Israeli reality.

Ahead of Hanukkah 2025, the Menorah of Hope was sent to the United States via diplomatic mail with the assistance of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Israel in the United States. Originating from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the Menorah was lit during Hanukkah at a series of events in New York, as part of a journey intended to bring light and hope to Jewish communities in the diaspora.

Among these events, the Menorah was lit at an official Hanukkah ceremony of the City of New York held at City Hall by the outgoing Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, who wore a kippah and was accompanied by a community rabbi. In addition, the Menorah was lit opposite the United Nations headquarters in New York, at a ceremony in which Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, lit the Menorah together with the sister of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held by Hamas, in prayer for his safe return to Israel.

In March 2026, Gross opened his solo exhibition “1956” in Manhattan, bringing together a personal and professional journey moving through a Hasidic world, a technological career, prolonged reserve military service, and a full commitment to artistic practice.

The exhibition explored identity, memory, survival, and continuity, using physical materials as witnesses to history and lived experience. Through sculpture and installation, past and present converged into a shared space where exile, homeland, and hope coexisted.

All details about the exhibition 1956 here.

Photo gallery from the opening of the 1956 exhibition in Manhattan.