Israeli Artist Doron Langberg Confronts Identity and History in New Paintings

Langberg's first solo New York gallery exhibition in seven years features monumental landscapes that reflect on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Published on Mar. 4, 2026

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Doron Langberg, a prominent Israeli artist known for their intimate paintings of gay life, has shifted their focus to landscape paintings that grapple with their personal and political relationship to Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After the 2024 Israel-Hamas war, Langberg traveled to significant places like their hometown of Yokneam, their father's birthplace of Drohobych, Ukraine, and the LGBTQ+ haven of Fire Island to explore their evolving views on their Israeli and Jewish identities. The resulting monumental paintings, opening at Deitch Projects in New York, confront the artist's 'complicity in a cycle of violence' and question what their home and Jewishness mean to them.

Why it matters

Langberg's work represents a personal reckoning with identity and politics that reflects broader conversations within the art world and Jewish community about how to grapple with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As an acclaimed Israeli artist with a successful career depicting intimate gay scenes, Langberg's shift to politically charged landscape paintings signals a new willingness to directly engage with difficult questions of nationality, history, and violence.

The details

Langberg traveled to three places of personal and political significance - their hometown of Yokneam, Israel, Drohobych, Ukraine where their father was born and narrowly survived the Holocaust, and Fire Island, New York, a queer refuge. The resulting monumental paintings, some up to 20 feet wide, feature heavily textured surfaces that Langberg says represent 'scabs or gashes.' Some paintings offer partial views of landscapes, reflecting Langberg's sense that many Israelis choose to 'look away' from the devastation in Gaza. Other paintings, like one depicting the Bronica Forest where Nazis executed Jews, confront the artist's family history and questions about the meaning of their Jewishness and Israeli identity.

  • In November 2024, Langberg traveled to the Bronica Forest in Ukraine.
  • The Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2024, leading Langberg to question their relationship to their home country and Jewish identity.
  • Langberg's first solo New York gallery exhibition in seven years is opening on Friday.

The players

Doron Langberg

A 40-year-old Israeli painter known for their intimate paintings of gay life, who has shifted their focus to politically charged landscape paintings that confront their evolving views on their Israeli and Jewish identities.

Anatol Naftali Langberg

Doron Langberg's father, who was under a year old when Germany invaded Poland and whose mother left him at a monastery to keep him safe during the Holocaust.

Moshe Gershuni

An Israeli artist who was an outspoken critic of Israel's expulsion and mistreatment of Palestinians, and whose use of a dark, bloody palette inspired Langberg.

Jeffrey Deitch

The dealer who is hosting Langberg's first solo New York gallery exhibition in seven years at Deitch Projects.

Salman Toor and Louis Fratino

Part of a loose cohort of painters, along with Langberg, that some critics have called the 'New Queer Intimists' for their tender depictions of gay life.

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What they’re saying

“No matter the circumstances, Palestinians deserve justice and liberation. By choosing to look away from unspeakable horrors under the auspice of protecting Jewish life, we destroy ourselves and countless others.”

— Doron Langberg

“How can art connect with all the disturbing things that are going on in the world today? Can you make art for sale in a commercial gallery and address these profound issues?”

— Jeffrey Deitch, Dealer

What’s next

The show at Deitch Projects in New York featuring Langberg's new landscape paintings opens on Friday.

The takeaway

Langberg's shift from intimate gay scenes to politically charged landscapes reflects a broader reckoning within the art world and Jewish community about how to engage with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their work confronts the complexities of identity, history, and violence in a way that challenges viewers to grapple with difficult questions about their own relationships to these issues.