Jacques Katmor
Israeli experimental filmmaker, painter and multimedia artist
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Jacques Mory-Katmor (Hebrew: ז׳אק מורי־קתמור; 4 September 1938 in Cairo, Egypt – 6 September 2001 in Tel Aviv, Israel[2] was an Israeli bohemian/counterculture experimental filmmaker, painter, and multimedia artist of anarchical, underground, and, independent leanings.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
- Artist
- Filmmaker
- Painter
- Soldier
Jacques Mory-Katmor | |
|---|---|
| ז׳אק מורי־קתמור | |
| |
| Born | 4 September 1938 Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt |
| Died | 6 September 2001 (aged 63) |
| Alma mater | École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1963–2001 |
| Known for | Filmmaking |
| Notable work | A Woman's Case 1969 |
| Style | Art film |
| Movement | New Sensitivity |
| Spouses | Helit Yeshurun
(m. 1963; div. 1969)Ann Tochmeyer
(m. 1969; died 2001) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Israel |
| Branch |  Israel Defense Forces |
| Unit |  Artillery Corps |
| Conflicts | Six-Day War |
Biography
Jacques Mory was born into a wealthy, Jewish, family in Cairo. His father was a realtor and tile factory owner. He attended a Jesuit school. Upon turning 18, he travelled to Paris and Switzerland to study art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. In 1960, he immigrated to Israel. He served in the Artillery Corps, taking part in the Six-Day War.
Art career
During the 1960s and 1970s, he organized a group of artists and intellectuals who called themselves "The Third Eye," a commune dedicated to the ideas of Timothy Leary. He claimed to be strongly influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche and the Marquis de Sade. At Avoth Yeshurun's suggestion, he turned his last name into a phonetic rendering of quatre mortes, French for "four deaths."
His apartment on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, where his only film was shot, was a hub of city life during that time.
He married translator, model, and, editor Helit Yeshurun, daughter of poet Avoth Yeshurun, while working on his avant-garde 1969 film A Woman's Case. He met Ann Tochmeyer during that period. She was a model who appeared on the covers of magazines such as HaOlam HaZeh. She appeared in his film and he married her after his divorce from Yeshurun.[16] The film was a commercial failure, and, hindered his ability to pursue his career as a filmmaker. Other works included creating television programs showcasing the works of artists such as Moshe Gershuni, Yosl Bergner (1971), Yaacov Agam (1973), and, Michail Grobman (1974).[17]
Around 1974, he left Israel for Cambodia, Canada, and, Thailand, with Tochmeyer leaving for San Francisco, and, finally, later, around 1975, for Amsterdam, together with Tochmeyer, returning in 1991. Reportedly, while abroad, they both became addicted to cocaine and heroin, while, squatting in abject poverty, forcing him to work in pornography, and, Tochmeyer, to work as a stripper, while, essentially, living in a sort of open relationship, together with artist Buki Greenberg.[18][19][20][21][22] Officially, the cause of his death was listed as alcoholism-related.[23]
Legacy
The Horse Hospital held a retrospective in his honor between 12 October and 9 November 2013.[24]
