The new and ambitious Tel Aviv Public Art Programme
The city of Tel Aviv is in the midst of daring public art installation frenzy . Little is said or written about it and you’d be hard pressed to find any information about it in Hebrew, let alone in English.
However, thanks to our close relationship with the artists and curators, we wanted to give you a glimpse of the beautiful art installations propping up around our city.
This bold initiative will eventually count over 30 outdoors installations . So far in 2023, we count 13 new statues.
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Artist
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Paula and David
The large metal engraving placed on the lawn near the Reading Power Station is actually a monumental replica of an old megaphone, a device that once served the mythical lifeguards of Tel Aviv. A simple tin amplifier that has become, for me, a symbol representing a nostalgic longing for quieter, pre-digital days. “Rescue Unavailable” allegorically refers to the announcement closely associated with the shores of Tel Aviv: “Dear public! At this moment, the lifeguard services have ended…” From this point on, the sole responsibility for our well-being rests with us. The sculpture “Rescue Unavailable” is an amplifier opened towards the sea, resembling a secular version of a shofar (ram’s horn), inviting the viewer to whisper a prayer into it and then listen for the song of the wind passing through it as its response. Curator: Smadar Shindler.NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY
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“Rescue Unavailable” Sculpture Description
The large metal engraving placed on the lawn near the Reading Power Station is actually a monumental replica of an old megaphone, a device that once served the mythical lifeguards of Tel Aviv. A simple tin amplifier that has become, for me, a symbol representing a nostalgic longing for quieter, pre-digital days. “Rescue Unavailable” allegorically refers to the announcement closely associated with the shores of Tel Aviv: “Dear public! At this moment, the lifeguard services have ended…” From this point on, the sole responsibility for our well-being rests with us. The sculpture “Rescue Unavailable” is an amplifier opened towards the sea, resembling a secular version of a shofar (ram’s horn), inviting the viewer to whisper a prayer into it and then listen for the song of the wind passing through it as its response. Curator: Smadar Shindler.THE GROWING MAN, SOON I WILL GET FAR
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Ilan Goldstein
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The Walking Man: A Retrospective
The Journey and Purpose
The man walking is a prisoner of the journey. His only goal is to go far. He challenges the norm, acting as a beacon towards a war not yet realized and an emblem in the medium he traverses, making the environment a medium for communication.
His appearance is earthly and does not allow him to linger in any particular medium. He’s a silent observer, his very presence a statement, with speculations building around him. (From the manifesto by Eitan Bartal and Ilan Goldstein, 1990)
The Beginning and the Message
Starting in the early ’90s as a form of protest by Eitan Bartal and Ilan Goldstein, it was a call to arms against urban establishment controls. “The Walking Man” shed light on the establishment’s ignorance of pressing urban matters that both residents and visitors endured.
Impact on the City
Throughout Tel Aviv, “The Walking Man” amplified issues related to ecology, society, and urban planning, awakening the city to previously overlooked concerns.
Transition and Influence
His journey initiated with graffiti messages across city walls, proclaiming: “I will soon go far”. But he was not confined to walls alone. He featured in local publications and urban installations, even running for mayoral office in ’93, reflecting the city’s changing sentiments and concerns.
Exhibitions and Legacy
Over the years, his influence permeated various exhibitions. Notably, in 2016, a showcase titled “I will soon go far – The Walking Man’s Mark on Urban Activism” graced “The City House”, recognizing and rewarding urban activists.
The Sculpture
Standing tall at four meters, he oversees Shlomo Lahat Square, observing the ebb and flow of city life. The artists share:
Surrounded by perpetual motion, he stands as a paradoxical icon – eager to forge ahead yet rooted in place. His timeless mantra, “I will soon go far”, is a stark commentary on the relentless pursuit of the capitalist world.
Curator: Udi Adelman.
BACKYARD
About
Uri Katzenstein: Statue of the Artist’s Head and Hand
Statue of the artist’s head and hand in fluorescent color, in a listening pose to the sounds heard, near and far. A copy of an identical sculpture created by the artist during his lifetime (collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art). The artist’s figure looks beyond the horizon, his head and hand in a listening pose to the distant sounds, to the future to come.
About the Artist
- Uri Katzenstein was born in Tel Aviv in 1951 and died there in August 2018.
- He studied art at the Avni School, a bachelor’s degree in art at Indiana University and a master’s degree in San Francisco.
- After graduating, he joined the new art scene in New York and exhibited in the most important spaces in this field in the 1980s, such as The Kitchen and No-Se-No.
- Upon his return to Israel, he began to focus on sculpture, video, and installation.
- He represented Israel at the Venice Biennale and exhibited in many exhibitions in Israel and around the world: at biennials in Brazil, Poland, Turkey, and Argentina, where he won first place in 2002.
- Following his win of the Sandelson Prize, in 2015 the exhibition Backyard was presented at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, a semi-retrospective exhibition of his works, which won rave reviews and great success.
- Katzenstein’s works deal with the fluid and flexible nature of man and the turbulent encounter between man and society.
- Katzenstein was born, lived, and created throughout his life in Tel Aviv.
Curator: Oded Edelman
BIKKURIM
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About
Ohad Maromi: Bikkurim Statue
In recent years, Maromi has developed sculptures of figures made of basic shapes such as a cone, cylinder, or cube, which are reminiscent of Russian Constructivism, whose forms link the working man to the machine. The sculpture “Bikkurim” (First Fruits), which will be placed at the new entrance to the HaHorshots Park near Beit Ber, depicts a woman figure carrying a basket on her shoulder. This sculpture will serve as a significant landmark at the entrance to the Beit Ber development area, which was once planted with orange groves. The figure’s pose is reminiscent of Israeli folk dance, harvest ceremonies in Israel, and of course, the celebrations in kindergartens. “I am focused on the body as a site of expression, and by analogy to dance, I think of a lexicon of poses. In the context of public space, I am particularly interested in the ‘civic’ dialogue that takes place between a resident and a monument. The figure in the sculpture “Bikkurim” touches on the Constructivist context and the tradition of images of working people,” says Ohad Maromi.
About the Artist
- Ohad Maromi was born in Kibbutz Metzer (1967).
- He is a graduate of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, and completed his Master’s degree at Columbia University in New York.
- Maromi has won numerous awards and has exhibited solo exhibitions in museums in Israel and many spaces in the United States and Paris.
- Maromi is a multidisciplinary artist whose main focus is sculpture. His figurative and monumental work “The Boy from South Tel Aviv” is on permanent display at the upper entrance to the Israel Museum.
Curator: Aya Miron
A PAIR OF ILLUMINATED
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About
Philip Ranzer: On Migration
Migration, wandering, displacement, and alienation are themes that run through Ranzer’s work throughout his career, alongside his focus on home, partnership, and family, both as personal experiences and as universal experiences. These charged themes are addressed through theatrical gestures, playfulness, and humor.
The stable stance of the figures and the line of light connecting them are expressions of the desire to create human connection and a sense of belonging to a place.
Philip Ranzer was born in Romania in 1956 and immigrated to Israel with his family as a child. He is a graduate of the Avni Art School.
Since the 1980s, he has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Israel and around the world; the Israel Museum in 1992, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2003). He represented Israel at the Venice Biennale in 1999.
Ranzer has been teaching for many years at leading art institutions in Israel and currently serves as the head of the School of Arts at the University of Haifa.
Curator: Edna Moshenson.
KIPPA ('DOME')
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Mahmud Kaiss’s Dome
Abstract
Mahmud Kaiss’s sculpture “Dome” is a modern work of art located in Sheikh Bassem Abu Zayd Square in Jaffa. The sculpture is made of hundreds of steel strips that form a lattice of geometric arabesque patterns. The dome is a perfect 4 meters in diameter, and between the arabesque lines are empty spaces that allow you to see the shadows they cast on the ground.
The Sculpture
The sculpture is displayed next to an olive tree in the center of the square. It is made of hundreds of steel strips that form a lattice of geometric arabesque patterns. The patterns are woven into a perfect dome with a diameter of 4 meters. Between the arabesque lines are empty spaces through which you can see the shadows they cast on the ground.
The sculpture is reminiscent of many residential and religious buildings in Israel and the Mediterranean region. Arabesque patterns are an abstract and complex pattern that originally arose as a design solution to the Islamic prohibition on the figural representation of animals and humans. They were used to decorate buildings inside and out, and also appear in holy scriptures and in the rich ornamentation of various objects throughout the Muslim world, as well as in non-Muslim Arab cultures.
Mahmud Kaiss’s “Dome” rests on the ground like a beautiful jewel in which the play of light and shadow and between lines and negative shapes changes with the time of day and the viewing angle. The dome echoes local and universal architectural forms from different periods and cultures. The connection between the spatial form and the arabesque patterns expresses a complexity that strives for perfection.
Curator: Aya Miron
OFTEN NEEDED IN TIME
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Artist
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About
The Sculpture of Leora Kaplan
Description
The sculpture by artist Leora Kaplan titled “Sometimes There Is a Need for Time” stands majestically as a decorated column, resembling a totem. It rises to a height of over three meters with delicate pastel hues gracing its entirety. It is composed of voluminous sculptural forms stacked on top of each other and decorative patterns etched on its polished and gleaming surface.
Location
The sculpture is located in a square between Yehuda Halevi Street and Railway Street, on the route leading from Jaffa and the first neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, tracing the city’s northward and eastward growth. It marks the historical boundary between the eclectic and naive architectural style of Ahuzat Bayit, Tel Aviv’s first neighborhood, and the International style of the White City buildings, symbolizing a milestone in the city’s urban development. By placing this vertical sculpture at this site, the artist artistically and historically refers to the surrounding architecture, including Beit HaDar, a horizontal building with flowing lines, Beit Phoenix which became an apartment building, and the towers that sprouted around them.
Historical Context
Beit HaDar, built in the 1930s by architect Karl Rubin (1899-1955), was the first commercial building in Tel Aviv, playing a significant economic role in transforming the city into a metropolis as envisioned by its founders. Thus, the location of the sculpture serves as a landmark to the city’s development era and a vantage point for observing urban changes.
The marble sculpture, situated in a public space, is a culmination, refinement, and celebration of the artist’s sculptural language developed over several preceding years. The series of sculptures, designed for interiors and resembling captivating totems, are a result of enthusiastic collection and in-depth research into the history of the Israeli ceramics industry, a flourishing enterprise that spanned decades in the mid-20th century before waning due to changing tastes and ideologies.
The totem sculptures were crafted from ceramic pieces with diverse, intricate decorations, joined together in surprising connections that accentuate their uniqueness and beauty in harmonic balance. They utilized various materials and traditional handcrafting skills from different cultures, acquired from personal experiences and collaborations with various artisans.
The marble sculpture, carved in Portugal, was executed by skilled marble sculptors and adorned with decorative patterns echoing the rich material culture of Israel. The artist’s accumulated knowledge, form, textures, and decorative motifs were translated into carvings and textures on the colorful marble block.
The sculpture’s title, “Sometimes There Is a Need for Time“, is taken from Karl Schwarz’s book “A Guide to Art“, paying tribute to the onset of modern culture and art in the city. Karl Schwarz, the manager of the Jewish Museum in Berlin before the Nazis came to power, was invited by Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv, to become the first director of the museum. Dizengoff’s private home, located nearby at Rothschild Boulevard 16, was converted into a museum by architect Karl Rubin, today known as the Independence Museum.
The sculpture, serving as a memorial to the times and places etched within and around it, creates a space for gathering, contemplation, and observation.
About the Artist
Leora Kaplan was born in 1974. She studied at the Midrasha School of Art and the Avni Institute and currently resides in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. She recently showcased a solo exhibition at the KMAC Museum in the United States, at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, and in many group exhibitions.
A REVERSAL POINT
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Gal Melnik’s Sculpture Installation at Shatulim Park
About the Installation
A cluster of seven large, colorful sculptures is situated at the entrance of Shatulim Park, a vast park filled with recreational, relaxation, and sports opportunities. Shatulim Park is part of Menachem Begin Park located in the southern part of the city and is integrated into the urban park system of Ganei Yehoshua Company.
The sculptures, made from metal sections, create a sort of square that invites visitors to walk around it, resembling a sculpture garden or a playground, enticing wandering and lingering. The sculptures abstract images from the world of flora, human figures, and architectural details, acting as a visual echo to their surroundings.
Walking around and between the sculptures reveals on one hand a cluster of tall buildings, a well-planned modern neighborhood that has sprung up alongside older and more established neighborhoods. On the other hand, there are walking and biking paths leading to the vast park, lawns, trees, playgrounds, and sports fields. The viewer becomes an active participant in the sculptural arrangement.
Construction and Inspiration
The sculptures were carved from large, heavy aluminum plates that were bent and folded as if they were paper. These flat sculptures, with their sharp outlines, create a dynamic three-dimensional space that changes with the movement of the park visitors and the play of light and shadow throughout the day.
The entire installation acts as a transition point between private and public spaces, reality and imagination, and urban surroundings to nature.
The sculptural installation by Gal Melnik calls to mind the sculptures of the renowned artist Alexander Calder (1898-1978), whose works stand in public spaces in many cities around the world. Calder’s tribute to Jerusalem, dated 1977, is located with a view of the Jerusalem Forest. This large, red sculpture contrasts with the green landscape and is composed of six steel arches, mirroring the surrounding mountainous terrain.
The Title’s Significance
The title “Turning Point” given by the artist refers to the time of year when the Earth’s tilt reaches its peak towards the sun, marking the longest and shortest days in each hemisphere. The title allows one to think of the cluster of sculptures also as a ceremonial site or a mysterious future archaeological site.
About the Artist
Gal Melnik, born in 1988, is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2014) and is engaged in sculpture alongside her drawing work. She had a solo exhibition at the Kav 16 Municipal Gallery (2021), Fresh Paint Fair, and a group exhibition at the Bat Yam Museum (2020). A large selection of her works is placed throughout the Botanika Hotel in Haifa.
SEA ELEPHANT
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About
The Sea Elephant Sculpture
About the Sea Elephant
A sea elephant is a heartwarming creature: its form is bulky and its movement heavy, its proportions are exaggerated and it moves with clumsiness. It’s a kind of anti-hero. Its solitary presence, distant from its home in the ocean, allows us to imagine the remote and strange nature within the city.
Kaslu’s Artistic Vision
The sea elephant rests and makes its slow way to a water source. Kaslu’s sculpture is characterized by the artist’s unique gaze at the tension between the ridiculous and the sublime in nature, in awe of the forms that characterize it and the life present in it.
GERM
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About
Giant Bean Sprout Sculpture
About the Sculpture
A meticulously sculpted giant bean sprout appears in the public space at the Rail Park, as part of its lush vegetation. The sculpture, in its metallic green hue, symbolizes growth and creation, resembling an experiment gone rogue.
Inspiration Behind the Art
The sculpture brings to mind the British legend, ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’. Like Jack’s magic beans, this sprout emerges as a powerful symbol in the landscape. Additionally, the shape of the sprout, reminiscent of a kidney, connects deeply with the artist’s personal history and her father’s health.
About the Artist: Hila Amram
Hila Amram was born in 1976 and is based in Tel Aviv. Her works often merge science, pseudo-science, and natural wonders. She is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and has been recognized with several awards for her innovative art.
DRAWING ON THE SHORE
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“Drawing on the Shore”
About the Sculpture
The work is a sculptural environment overlooking the sea. It features three T-shaped hollow structures on pedestals, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the experience, providing unique views and sounds of the sea and surroundings. Individuals using the sculptures take on a transformative appearance, reminiscent of mythical and hybrid creatures.
About the Artist: Efrat Nathan
Efrat Nathan is based in Tel Aviv. Her history with the T-shape sculpture dates back to 1973, connecting her personal past and memories of her childhood home in Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin.
RUMORS
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Description of “Rumors” Sculpture
The sculpture “Rumors” is an acoustic sculpture made of concrete, consisting of a large parabolic plate in front of which are steps and a bench. The sculpture is located next to the promenade to the north of the Reading area, facing the sea.
This type of structure creates a kind of acoustic mirror, an interesting phenomenon that concentrates all the sound waves coming from a certain direction towards a single point, resulting in the amplification of sounds.
Despite the distance from the sea, when sitting on the bench, the sitter is engulfed in a flood of sea sounds, different from how we usually hear the surroundings.
The person sitting feels magic happening around them. They settle down and suddenly they are engulfed in sounds in an unnatural way.
The sculpture captures the waves; it’s a moment when our body is flooded with the sounds of the sea waves. The gaze sinks into the infinity spread out before it, allowing a moment of not just being in front of the world that spreads before us but being inside the world, together with the world.
About the Artist: Niv Gefen
Niv Gefen is an artist who often deals in his works with the way we perceive and participate in the world around us, as well as our relationship with the world and the various phenomena that compose it. The sculpture was primarily created from thinking about one of the main natural phenomena that characterize Tel Aviv, the sea beside which it resides, and which is part of the city’s DNA.
In placing the sculpture, Gefen wanted to create a space and conditions that allow encountering the sea in an enhanced way, through its sounds.
The sculpture allows us to encounter phenomena that are the foundations that compose our world, in which we are surrounded and flooded all the time, and simultaneously also to meet ourselves as part of the complex and beautiful entity that is the world.
Niv Gefen (born 1991) is a sound artist, sculptor, and composer who combines different mediums in his works. His main activity focuses on sound and movement, their relationship, and the spiritual field between humans and the non-human. Most of his works echo our subconscious connection with the environment and the non-human world.
Gefen creates installations and environments that encourage listening and contemplation as an entryway to an encounter with deep, subconscious elements inherent in humans.
Throughout his life, the artist spent long periods in nature, notably significant time in solitude. Over time, he developed a special attention to the different phenomena that make up the world around us. Alongside this, he recognized the value embedded in the possibility of encountering the world through listening and observing those elusive qualities.
Curator: Smadar Shindler
STAR GATES
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“Star Gates” Sculpture Description
The sculpture “Star Gates” mimics seven gates, intertwined within each other. Through them, one can pass and view the sea horizon on one side, and Jaffa Port on the other. Its reflective materiality gives the sculpture a shimmering appearance, as the reflections of the surroundings almost make it disappear at a passing glance. The sculpture delves into the idea of spiritual and physical gates – entrance gates for immigrants, victory gates, gates of the heart and soul, gates of consciousness, and astral gates. The monumental form of the sculpture invites the viewer to pass through it and walk within it.
About the Artist: Noa Yafe
Noa Yafe (born 1978) is a graduate of the undergraduate and continuation programs of the Beit Berl School of Art. She has presented solo exhibitions at the CCA Contemporary Art Center in Tel Aviv, the Artists’ Workshops, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin, Bat Yam Museum, and more. Her works have been showcased in numerous group exhibitions, among them at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art. She has been the recipient of several scholarships and awards, including those from Artis, Outset, the Rabinovich Foundation, the America-Israel Foundation, and Bank Hapoalim. Her works can be found in both public and private collections.
Curator: Udi Adelman.
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