Pinkus, Assaf

"Since the beginning of my career, I have been fascinated by the powerful communicative force and emotional intensity of medieval art, as well as its surprising diversity and aesthetic pluralism. I have contextualized these aspects with imagination and intuition, introducing concepts such as living images and visual aggression to explore the non-religious perception of medieval art. Recently, my focus has been on somesthetics, giants, and scale, as well as on the formation of subjectivity. I see the engagement with medieval art as a ‘safe space’ in which current challenges and identities can be reflected upon and reconsidered."

• Gothic art in German-speaking countries, France, Italy
• Visual practices and narratology
• Art experience, reception, performance, and somesthetics
• Intuition and imagination
• Image theory
• Materiality and medium
• Modern and contemporary pilgrimage art in the Holy Land

• 1998–2002 Doctorate, Department of Art History, Tel Aviv University
• 2004–2006 Postdoctoral fellow, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg
• 2007 Senior Lecturer (tenured), Tel Aviv University
• 2009–2011 Chair, IMAGO – Israeli Association for Medieval Visual Culture
• 2012–2016 Co-founder and co-director of the study program “History and Theory of Photography”
• 2012–2016 Director of the University Gallery
• 2012–2016 Chair of the Department of Art History, Tel Aviv University
• 2013 Associate Professor, Tel Aviv University
• 2013–2016 ICMA (International Center of Medieval Art), New York, International Associate and Member of the Board of Directors
• 2014–2020 Director of the Tel Aviv Israeli Art Foundation
• 2018–2020 Head of Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Programs in the Arts
• 2018 Full Professor (Ordinarius), Tel Aviv University
• 2018 Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf
• 2019 University of Glasgow
• 2019 Titular Member and Co-President of the Israeli Board, CIHA (Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art)
• 2021 Honorary Professor, University of Vienna
• 2021 VIU, Ca' Foscari University, Venice
• 2022 Board of Trustees, Tel Aviv University
• 2022 Hannelore Kipp Chair for Art Studies, Tel Aviv University
• 2022 Editor-in-Chief, Tel Aviv University Press
• Since March 2025 Professor of Medieval Art History, University of Vienna