ART WILL S8T YOU FREE, a collection of eight works by Israeli-American artist Tomer Peretz, is an artistic response to the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel, the resulting Israel-Hamas war and global wave of antisemitism, and other traumatic experiences. It is the continuation of Peretz’s layered collaborations with a community of trauma survivors that includes frontline veterans and survivors of October 7.
Included with Museum admission.
Tomer Peretz, the inaugural artist in residence at the Museum of Tolerance, was in Tel Aviv when Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack on southern Israel in 2023, and he volunteered to help disaster response teams collect bodies from Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the deadliest sites in the attack. The horrific scenes he bore witness to there profoundly affected Peretz, who has always used art to reflect his life experiences and address the harsh realities of violence.
Working together with other survivors of trauma, each incorporating their individual stories into the work, Peretz creates a therapeutic artistic home to process suffering, explore mass trauma, and support healing. He utilizes oil and acrylic painting, photography, and conceptual art to create a vibrant, intense, and at times harrowing experience that situates his art within the disturbing realities of the present world.
Along with Peretz’s collection of original works on view throughout the Museum lobby, this special installation features work by guest artists Kalia Littman, Michael Mike Canon, and Avia Moshe Shklar. Organized groups will have the opportunity to collaborate with Peretz and then continue creating afterwards with a custom-designed individual art kit.
ART WILL S8T YOU FREE is presented by the Museum of Tolerance in partnership with The Genesis Arts Collective and The 8 Foundation.
Growing up in Jerusalem amidst the Arab-Israeli conflict, Tomer Peretz was exposed to terrorist attacks from his most formative years, when he first began to find solace and self-expression through art. He served four years in the IDF during the Second Intifada, experiencing combat and the loss of comrades. References to trauma and violence are a throughline of much of his work. Peretz’s body of multimedia artwork reflects both his own and others’ life experiences, touching on social issues, mental health, and the realities of conflict. Peretz and his family have lived in Los Angeles since 2005.
Peretz was in Tel Aviv on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack on southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. He volunteered to help disaster response teams collect bodies from Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the deadliest sites in the attack. The horrific scenes he bore witness to there profoundly affected Peretz, who has always used art to reflect his life experiences and address the harsh realities of violence.
