5 Exhibitions To Visit In June
Alexandra Levin, art historian, art guide and DI art expert prepared her list of local exhibitions and cultural events that she highly recommends to visit in June!
1. Vangelis Kyris: Light and Thread
Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv
The exhibition features a unique photography project by the internationally recognized artist Vangelis Kyris (lives and works in Greece), who was commissioned by the museum to photograph the stunning collection of garments in the Jewish Culture and Folklore Pavilion. Kyris photographed 80 modern male and female models wearing historical clothing items from the museum collection, that features complete outfits, alongside headdresses, jewelry and prayer shawls from the 18th–20th centuries. These pieces originated in Jewish communities around the world, including Bukhara, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Poland, Turkey, the Balkans and Western Europe.
The dramatic portraits created by Kyris are printed on large stretches of cotton, upon which he creates details of delicate gold, metal and cotton embroidery that reconstruct ancient traditions. The exhibition showcases a unique artistic medium that combines photography and functional art – forging a connection between age-old traditions and the present, and bringing the traditional garments back to life.
THE EXHIBITION IS OPEN TILL 30.11.25
ADDRESS: Chaim Levanon St. 2, Tel Aviv-Yafo
https://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/en/exhibitions/vangelis-kyris/
2. Joel Mesler: The Light Within
Nassima Landau Gallery, Tel Aviv
Joel Mesler is a leading contemporary American artist, who proudly owns his Jewish identity, and is known for his signature-style patterned paintings overlaid with inspiring words and phrases. In his first solo show in Israel, Mesler juxtaposes Jewish concepts and typography with his distinctive LA-inspired aesthetic. The artist paints his way through memories and identities, contemplating the state of Jewishness in the diaspora with a brush dipped in humor and nostalgia.
Mesler has invited an Israeli artist Guy Yanai to participate in the exhibition and respond to the theme “light”, creating an interesting dialogue between these two leading artists who are connected to Israel, yet reside elsewhere.
THE EXHIBITION IS OPEN TILL 8.08.2025
ADDRESS: Ahad Ha’Am St. 55, Tel Aviv-Yafo
3. Hannan abu Hussein: Broken Barriers
Tel Aviv Museum
Sculptor Hannan Abu-Hussein’s (b. 1972, Umm al-Fahem) comprehensive exhibition spans three decades of artistic creation. For the first time, it features her large-scale installations, showcasing the wide array of materials employed in her work, all drawn from the fabric of life itself: a wall-mounted piece made of raw sheep’s wool, stretching from floor to ceiling; a stack of traditional blankets and a tangled system of vein-like tubes, through which olive oil flows like lifeblood; and a video of a mother blessing her daughter with repeated words in a meditative rhythm.
The diversity of materials is complemented by distinctive techniques, primarily characterized by manual labor and the duplication of a basic form or object. Together, these elements amplify the sense of pain and defiance against the cycles of coercion imposed on Abu-Hussein as a woman, a Palestinian, and an artist in a traditional, patriarchal society.
THE EXHIBITION IS OPEN TILL 18.10.25
ADDRESS: Sderot Sha’ul HaMelech St. 27, Tel Aviv-Yafo
https://www.tamuseum.org.il/en/exhibition/hannan-abu-hussein-kasr-hdoud-broken-barriers/
4. Ester Schneider: Hoshana
Bat Yam Museum of Art
In her first museum solo exhibition called “Hoshana” (a prayerful entreaty translated as “Save us”) Israeli artist Ester Schneider showcases her installations, paintings and watercolors, deeply engaged in the world of Jewish thought and ritual objects, transformed by her vibrant color palette.
As the daughter of a religious family, that immigrated from Russia when she was young, Ester’s work is inspired by a multiplicity of cultural arenas, including Jewish mysticism, Persian miniatures, and Russian modernism. For the exhibition she has created various ritual objects, including a sukkah made of furniture arms and palm fronds, a chair for Elijah the Prophet, a staircase reminiscent of Jacob’s biblical dream and others.
THE EXHIBITION IS OPEN TILL 30.08.25
ADDRESS: Struma St. 6, Bat Yam
5. Wall to Wall | Wall of Craft
Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel Aviv-Yafo
Wall to Wall | Wall of Craft exhibition consists of two parts: the show “Wall to Wall”, that takes place in the Benyamini Center gallery and the new outdoor ceramic mural, created especially for the occasion. “Wall to Wall” is a photographic historical exhibition of wall murals, produced in Israel between the 1960s and the 1990s.
Over the road, at the entrance to Kiryat Hamelacha Quarter, on the northern wall of the Haaretz Newspaper building the “Wall of Craft” is presented – a big ceramic tapestry of tiles, created by 22 local artists, designers and craftsmen, where each tile bears a layer of meaning, material, cultural and visual, alongside personal symbolic meanings of the makers. The project is curated by the designer Avi Ben Shoshan.
On one hand the mural is inspired by the tradition of ceramic wall tile murals,that were common in Israel in the second half of the previous century on walls of schools, kibbutzim, educational and cultural institutions and reflected the collective vision, ideology, everyday aesthetic. On the other hand, it builds a new path: contemporary interpretation with the aim of broadening and deepening the concept of place through a variety of viewpoints and layered form and language.
The historical exhibition and the new mural are in a constant dialogue, creating a bridge between past and present, and between ceramic making and the architecture.
THE EXHIBITION IS OPEN TILL 12.07.25
ADDRESS: Benyamini Center, Haamal St. 17, Tel Aviv-Yafo
www.benyaminiceramics.org/en/ceramic-galleries/current-exhibitions/wall-to-wall/
I’m Alexandra Levin – an art historian, art tours guide and Israeli art lover. I have a Master Degree of Arts in Art History (Tel Aviv University), and for many years conduct art tours in Israeli museums, art galleries, artists’ studios and private collections, give lectures and promote Israeli art to a Russian-speaking audience.
Find my upcoming art tours in the DI Events and on my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/levi_lex/
Stay tuned for the next recommendations of the local exhibitions and arts events!