Last Wednesday night, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) National Young Leadership (YL) division hosted Israeli artist Amit Shimoni for “HIPSTORY: Reimagining Historical Icons.”
HIPSTORY is an art concept in which Shimoni, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence Corps veteran, reimagines historical icons as celebrated influencers. Shimoni’s collaborations range from illustrating the Prime Minister of Norway for her 2017 election campaign; the #GoVote campaign in Mexico; and illustrating Hillary Clinton for the New York Times; etc.
“It was a great experience for me to share my story with the young leaders of today, and I’m grateful to FIDF for giving me this opportunity!” said Shimoni. “This is really why I created HIPSTORY, to introduce historical icons as role models on a daily basis and integrate them into the framework of their lives in a meaningful way.”
The FIDF YL event consisted of an exclusive interview with Shimoni about his journey from the army to the art world. Raffle tickets were sold for $10 each to win a one-of-a-kind t-shirt design. Shimoni provided a code through which people could buy his art online with 20% of proceeds donated to FIDF.
“It was a pleasure to attend the webinar as I have known about HIPSTORY for a few years now and I have always admired Shimoni’s playfulness towards depicting famous historical figures. It was great to finally see the artist and hear about not only his artistic process but also his multigenerational experience in the IDF and how those experiences shaped and impacted his life,” said raffle winner Emily Yatvin from New York. “Supporting the IDF through FIDF is extremely important, especially now as we feel more disconnected than ever but national security issues, particularly those facing Israel have not changed and soldiers still need our support and knowing we have their backs,” she added.
“I was captivated by Amit’s presentation, listening to his journey from a spontaneous art concept that metamorphized to a phenomenon in today’s pop culture. I look forward to following his art and it will have even more meaning knowing his connection to the IDF,” said FIDF Donor from Miami Michael Behar.
