From 1947 to 1950, Kadishman studied with the Israeli sculptor Moshe Sternschuss at the Avni Institute of Art and Design in Tel Aviv, and in 1954 with the Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehmann in Jerusalem.
In 1959, he moved to London, where he attended the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Art. During 1959 and 1960 he also studied with Anthony Caro and Reg Butler.
He remained there until 1972 and had his first one-man show in 1965 at the Grosvenor Gallery.
His sculptures of the 1960s were Minimalist in style, and so designed as to appear to defy gravity. This was achieved either through careful balance and construction, as in Suspense (1966), or by using glass and metal so that the metal appeared unsupported, as in Segments (1968). The glass allowed the environment to be part of the work.
