MARTIN GROSS
S C U L P T O R
ABOUT
Prof. Martin Gross
Dentist, specialist in prosthodontics, and sculptor.
Tel Aviv, Israel.
Prof. Martin Gross was Born in Nairobi Kenya 1949.
Parents emigrated from Nazi Germany 1938. After spending his childhood in Nairobi Kenya the Family moved to England.
in 1960 where Martin grew up and received his education in London and then Chicago. Martin made ‘Aliya’ in 1977.
Married with 3 children. Worked in private dental practice and
on the faculty of the University of Tel Aviv for 30 years. Clinical professor and director of the graduate program in Prosthodontics. Served as President of the International College of Prosthodontics 2012-2013.
Martin started sculpting forms of the old city of Jerusalem based on a painting of his father. In 1991 with the Madrid peace conference where Israeli and Arab statesmen met for the first time to talk about peace, he started making a sculpture of the dove of peace. The first dove was in a sitting-waiting position, waiting for the developments of this first attempt of peace. Since then every time a major event occurred of political, historical or emotional significance he made another sculpture. Each sculpture was of the dove of peace with the old city of Jerusalem intricately detailed on the body and wings. With the sign of possible peace with the Oslo accords in 1993 he made an optimistic flying dove which he intended to present to Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
Unfortunately he was only able to present the dove to Shimon Peres. Touched by the tragic assignation of Yitzhak Rabin he made a Dove recoiling in agony as if mortally wounded and another dove hanging its head in shame. Others who received sculptures of the optimistic flying dove were Teddy Kolek and Efraimn Snee, then minister of health, and Major General Van Ginkel commander of the UN peace keeping forces in the Sinai at the time .
Since then he made more tragic doves laid out to rest after the Hebron massacre. Other mutilated burnt and distorted doves represented the period of the first intifada and the terrible bombings senseless killings and exploding buses where over 1000 innocent civilians lost their lives. Spherical sculptures of Jerusalem were made in silver bronze and polymer representing images of Jerusalem variously in shining glory, as a divided city surrounded with barbed wire and as a black bomb about to explode with the opening of the underground water systems under the temple mount. In all this period he sculpted a black burnt out dove sitting in a nest of barbed wire hatching an egg representing the hope of future peace one day. With the signing of a peace treaty with Jordan new optimistic flying silver and bronze doves were made to represent future hope. One of these was presented to ex-president Bill Clinton on his visit to Jerusalem commemorating 10 years of the Rabin assassination. Clinton sent a note of thanks expressing his hope for future peace. With the Wye plantation talks with Barak, Carter and Arafat a silver dove lying on the ground extending it’s had offering peace and major concessions. These were rejected by Arafat and the outcome was the second intifada. This was depicted by another bronze sculpture of the dove trampled to death covered in foot prints of civilians, children and soldiers boots. A later dove attempting to rise again with the formation of the Kadima party by Ariel Sharon had its side collapsed and paralyzed with the tragic stroke of Ariel Sharon. Further doves representing kidnappings and senseless murders are now the expression of recent tragic events. An optimistic series of flying doves nevertheless are laying on the side ready for casting in the hope of one day being at peace with the neighbors of Israel.