Fifteen years ago, a suicide bomber carrying 15 pounds of explosives laced with bullets and metal scraps grabbed Omer Golan from behind — and blew them both up. Miraculously, Golan survived. Along with his wife, Tal Golan, he went on to become one of the most interesting new-media artists to come out of Israel.

In Hanan Harchol’s art, there’s no disconnect between visual imagery and Jewish thought. His new exhibition of paintings and animation is alive with conversation — about values, teachings, choices, holiness and life’s adventures.
The conversations take place in cars, park benches and on the subway; even the small talk leads to large ideas, whether love or forgiveness or gratitude. In Israeli-accented English and with perfect timing, his father, the nuclear physicist Micha Harchol (in Hanan’s voice) advises his son not to chase another person’s dream (“Looking in Other People’s Windows” or Envy) and not to let someone live in your head rent-free, that is, not to let someone’s past actions take up valuable room (“Landlord” or Forgiveness).