Calman Shemi (Israeli, b. 1939) is a sculptor and painter born in Argentina in 1939. A graduate of the School of Sculpture and Ceramics in Mendoza, Shemi was a student of the Italian Argentine sculptor Líbero Badíi, and later of the German Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehman. In 1961, Shemi settled in Israel and worked as a sculptor using wood and clay. Several of his large-scale projects made of fiberglass and polyester are situated in public buildings all over the world. Though sculpture dominated his early years as an artist, Shemi developed the idea of the “soft painting” medium in 1977. His later bodies of work, like his “lacquer” and “window” paintings, are reminiscent of ancient techniques used to create art in Japan and China. Shemi has held more than 70 solo shows in the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Japan, and Israel.