1923-1938 Lived in Haifa, studied at the "Reali" High School. Studied painting in
classes taught by Prof. Paul Konrad Hoenich of the Technion
1939 Participated in the founding of Kibbutz Beit-Ha'arava, north of the Dead Sea
Painted in oil, sketched and began sculpting in stone and wood
1940 Married Chaviva Zabarsky. Three children will be born of their marriage
1941 Began sculpting in stone at the studio of Itzhak Danziger in Tel Aviv
1945-1948 Sent as emissary of the Hechalutz movement to the U.S.A. and there
1949 Joined his fellow members of Kibbutz Beit-Ha'arava in Kibbutz Cabri
1950-1952 Served as Secretary of Kibbutz Cabri. Helped organize art seminars for
1956 Showed iron sculptures for the first time, at the "New Horizons" exhibition
1967 Lived and worked for half a year at the Nachal settlement Kalya, north of the Dead Sea, where the landscape reminded him of Beit Ha'arava
1971 Erected concrete and iron sculptures at the Jerusalem Theater
Experiments with aluminum castings using the "lost wax" method
1972 Unveiling of the Monument for the Fallen of the 8th Brigade, at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel
Since 1973 In addition to sculpting, began to work in collage on paper, etching and prints
1981 Was awarded the Sandberg Art Prize by the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Since 1988 Began to paint in oil and asphalt on linen and jute canvases
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1957 "Yehiel Shemi", Tel Aviv Museum Of Art, Israel
Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem
1960 "Yehiel Shemi", Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
1964 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1966 "Yehiel Shemi, Sculptures 1962-1966", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Tel Aviv, Israel
1967 The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1973 Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
1975 "Yehiel Shemi", Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
1976 “Involucrum Sculpture”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1978 “Factors into One”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1979 “Collages on Paper and Tar-Paper, and Sculptures”, Debel Gallery, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem
1980 “Syllables: Wall Sculptures”, Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, U.S.A.
1981 “Syllables: Iron Sculptures”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1982 “Wood and Iron Sculptures”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1984 Mishkenot Sha’ananim Gallery, Jerusalem
1985 “Syllables”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1986 “Two Sculptures in Wood and Iron”, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1988 “Yehiel Shemi A Representative Exhibition”, Museum of Israel Art, Ramat Gan, Israel
1990 "Paintings", the Gallery at Kibbutz Cabri, Israel
"Etchings and Lithographs", The Print Workshop, Jerusalem
1993 "Facts – Wall Sculptures – Siftah to Avot Yeshurun", Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1994 "Wall Sculptures", the Gallery at Kibbutz Cabri, Israel
1995 "Yehiel Shemi '93-'95: Sculptures and Paintings", The Open Museum, Tefen, Israel
1997 "Yehiel Shemi Retrospective", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
2001 “Atelier Shemi”, Kibbutz Cabri, Israel
2003 “Shemi’s Papers”, The City Gallery, Rehovot, Israel
Selected Group Exhibitions
1952 "Artists of the 'Hakibbutz Hameuchad'", Kibbutz Na'an, Israel
1953 The fifth "New Horizons" exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum, Dizengoff House, Israel
1955 The sixth "New Horizons" exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum, Dizengoff House, Israel
1956 The seventh "New Horizons" exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum, Dizengoff House, Israel
1957 The eighth "New Horizons" exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel
1958 International Sculpture Exhibition, Middleheim Museum, Antwerp, Belgium
"New Acquisitions", Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A.
The Fourth International Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1959 The ninth "New Horizons" exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum, Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Israel
1960 Salon de Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France
1961 "The Second International Sculpture Exhibition", Rodin Museum, Paris, France
1962 "International Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture", Carnegie Foundation, Pittsburgh, Penn. U.S.A.
1963 "Select Exhibition of Israeli Artists ", Tel Aviv Museum (on the occasion of the International Congress of Art Critics in Israel), Israel
1964 Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A.
1965 "Trends in Israeli Art", The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
"Autumn Exhibition", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
1966 "Birds in Contemporary Art", Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
1969 "Three Sculptors: Gross, Danziger, Shemi", Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel
1971 "Israeli Art", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
1979 "The Thirtieth Anniversary of New Horizons", Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel
1981 "Artists from Israel", The Jewish Museum, New York, U.S.A.
1983 "Sculptors' Etchings: Shemi, Gitlin, Rikman, Tumarkin", Jerusalem Print
Workshop, and the Gallery of Ben-Gurion University, Be'er Sheva, Israel
1984 "80 Years of Sculpture in Israel", The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1985 "Milestones in Israeli Art", The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1987 "Yehiel Shemi Invites", Hakibbutz Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1988 "The Quest for Identity", The Open Museum, Tefen, Israel
1990 "Place and Mainstream: Israeli Sculpture to Japan", Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan, Israel
1991 "The Common Element – Iron: Yaacov Dorchin, Motti Meller, Yehiel Shemi", Herzliya Museum of Art, Israel
1992 "Position Israel", Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
1994 "Dialogues between Painting and Sculpture", The Art Gallery, Haifa University, Israel
"Prints: A Tribute to the Jerusalem Print Workshop", The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
1995 "Etchings and Lithographs", Bineth Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
1996 "New Horizons Sculpture", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel