Street art in Jerusalem: Tant, Broken Fingaz, Jack tml, Signer and more

Tant of the Broken Fingaz Crew
Tant of the Broken Fingaz Crew

When I first started documenting West Jerusalem’s street art scene a number of years back, it consisted – for the most part – of rather simple stencils, often religiously or politically fraught. These days it is visually richer, presenting an intriguing array of characters and more. Here’s a sampling:

Broken Fingaz, close-up
Broken Fingaz, close-up
Jack tml and Signer
Jack tml and Signer
Jack tml
Jack tml
Itmar Palogue
Itmar Paloge
Celja
Celja

Photos by Dani Reyes Mozeson and Lois Stavsky

The Lure of the Abandoned: in Washington DC & in West Jerusalem

Alex Merritt

There are few sites as alluring to artists – or at least to the artists I tend to meet – as abandoned spaces. A few like the Underbelly Project and Mausolee, last summer’s takeover of an abandoned supermarket in Paris, have attracted considerable media attention. But many others — both sanctioned and unsanctioned — take place regularly on a smaller scale. Earlier this month, a soon-to-be-demolished warehouse in Washington DC’s U Street Corridor became the canvas to over 60 artists. Presented by AIGA DC and Albus Cavus, the space opened to the public for six hours on Friday, June 8th. Blended – as the event was called – successfully fused the worlds of graffiti, street art, graphic design and more as it raised money to support the implementation of public art projects. I was impressed by the range of sensibilities, backgrounds and ages of those who filled the space to capacity. Here are some more images that made their way onto the walls:

Astrotwitch
Pore
i will not

Earlier this spring in Jerusalem, a diverse group of artists covertly refashioned an abandoned home in West Jerusalem’s upscale Emek Refaim neighborhood. Meydad Eliyahu, a Jerusalem-based artist (whom I met years ago when his stencils surfaced regularly on his city’s public spaces) shared the following images with me:

Meydad Eliyahu
Meydad Eliyahu close-up
Michal Mikaho Harada
Michal Mikaho Harada close-up
Lihi Weiss

After the home was refashioned — with library and all — it was opened to the public for a few days. The Empty House is once again empty, but its brief existence has helped revive Jerusalem’s underground art scene.

“Blended” photos by Lois Stavsky & i will not; photos from “The Empty House” by Meydad Eliyahu