27 Club graffiti in Tel Aviv

27 Club Graffiti
The work as seen from the street
Artist	John Kiss
Year	2014 (2014)
Medium	Graffiti
Movement	Street art
Dimensions	300 cm × 1000 cm (120 in × 390 in)
Location	Haim Ben Atar St 3, Tel Aviv, Israel
Coordinates	32.0559°N 34.7683°E / 32.0559; 34.7683

The 27 Club graffiti is a mural in Tel Aviv, Israel, painted by John Kiss with the assistance of Itai Froumin and Roman Kozhokin.^[1] The work depicts, from left to right, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, and an unknown figure believed to depict Kiss.^[2]

Background

The artwork depicts seven artists from the "27 Club," a list of popular musicians or artists who died at the age of 27.

The work was created by John Kiss, an Israeli street artist and peace activist previously known as Jonathan Kis-Lev.^{[3][4][5][6][7][2]}

Development

The work in progress

Kiss chose the holiday of Rosh Hashana as the time to execute the work, likely to ensure that the police would be unable to reach the public art department at Tel Aviv city hall. To convince police that the work was indeed commissioned, he and his team wore yellow vests and yellow helmets like city hall workers.^[1]

Art journalist Zipa Kampinski of Israel's largest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth,^[8][9] was privy to the story and covered the mural's secretive creation process.^[1]

Kiss was assisted by fellow artists Itai Froumin and Roman Kozhokin in executing the piece.^[1] The work took 24 hours for the team to complete.^[1] The large painting attracted an enthusiastic audience to the spot where the graffiti was created.^[1]

Kiss painted the portraits of the famous artists in colors, but left his own portrait at the far right in gray.^[10]

The result, 3 m (9.8 ft) high by 7 m (23 ft) wide,^[11] depicted seven artists from the "27 Club".^[12] Kiss did not supply the press with details about his own figure, which was left for many to guess, believing the figure "to be the artist".^[13][10][14]

Reception

Kiss' portrait was covered by pink paint, and "there is some argument as to whether or not the pink paint over Kiss’s face was done by Kiss himself or another artist. One rumor is that Kiss was so disappointed in all that he hadn’t accomplished by the age of 27, that he included paint to cover his face."^[15]

Wall in November 2022 with the artist's face rubbed out.

The artist received criticism focused on adding his portrait alongside great artists who have not crossed the age of 27.^[16] Others note the "pain which follows the disappearance of the sudden gratification of fame and the dangerous emptiness that follows."^[17]

Over the years since its creation in 2014 the work has become known as one of Israel's must-see street artworks,^[15][18][19] and according to From the Grapevine Magazine "the most popular in Florentin."^[20] Some locals define it as "sensational".^[21]

Outside of Israel, the work appeared in articles in Polish,^[22] Italian,^[23][24] Spanish,^[25][26] French,^[27] Indonesian,^[28] Russian,^[29] and others.

Prints of it appeared in international museum exhibits.^[30] It is considered one of the top graffiti works in Israel.^[31]

It became a symbol of the gentrification process in South Tel Aviv,^[32][33] as well as an icon of the city.^[13][10][14] Time Out Magazine cited this work among "The most beautiful in Tel Aviv."^[34]

See also

• Banksy
• Street art
• List of street artists

References

1. Kampinski, Zipa (26 September 2014), Sparkle on Frenkel Street (in Hebrew), Yedioth Ahronoth's Xnet
2. "Walls With Stories In Every Crack". The Mediterranean Observer. 1 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
3. Kiner, Saloma (21 November 2016). "A Tel Aviv, une méthode pour apprendre l'hébreu". L'Obs (in French). Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
4. Constance De Saint-Laurent; Sandra Obradović; Kevin R. Carriere, eds. (2018). Imagining Collective Futures : Perspectives from Social, Cultural and Political Psychology. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-319-76051-3. OCLC 1040613419.
5. "About Kis-Lev". Jonathan Kis-Lev Official Website. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2021. In 2020 Kiss officially changed his name from Jonathan Kis-Lev to John Kiss.
6. Fishman, Daniella (30 April 2021). "6 Incredible Street Art Pieces To Find In Tel Aviv". Jetset Times. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
7. "Not your normal tour of Tel Aviv | Hamilton Jewish News". hamiltonjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
8. The Israeli Press Archived 11 September 2002 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Virtual Library
9. "The press in Israel". BBC. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
10. Kogot, Rotem (21 April 2019). "Notable Graffiti Works". Frogi Magazine (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
11. Herzl, Israel (22 April 2021). "Graffiti Tour in Florentin Neighborhood". Hasharon Post (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
12. "12 Must-See Works Of Israeli Street Art". www.masaisrael.org. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
13. Peterson, Sydney (8 March 2017), 12 Must-See Works Of Israeli Street Art, Forward Magazine, retrieved 1 October 2017
14. "Street art in Tel Aviv". La Muse Blue. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
15. Peterson, Sydney (8 March 2017), 12 Must-See Works Of Israeli Street Art, Forward Magazine, retrieved 1 October 2017
16. Brestovitsky, Boris. "27... из серии "кама зман ата бе арец"". Livejournal (in Russian). Archived from the original on 8 August 2021.
17. Dotan, Dana (20 March 2019). "On the Walls of Tel Aviv". Limonchello (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
18. Tel Aviv Street Art, Street Art NYC, 4 February 2017, retrieved 1 October 2017
19. "Graffiti wall art Tel Aviv". photostock-israel.photoshelter.com. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
20. "Take a walk through one of the world's most interesting neighborhoods". From the Grapevine. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
21. Ko, Evgeny (12 March 2015). "Up We Go". Look At Israel (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
22. Rynkiewicz, Alek (5 July 2017). "Tel-Awiw: białe i tęczowe miasto - Poznaj nieoficjalną stolicę Izraela - Alek Rynkiewicz". Queer (in Polish). Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
23. Senin, Budi Prasetyo Harsono (18 January 2021). "Bukan Hanya Musisi, Ada 5 Atlet yang Masuk 27 Club". Bolaskor Magazine (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
24. Horizons (13 December 2018). "Il Club 27 torna protagonista con una mostra a Bologna". Ultima Voce (in Italian). Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
25. Perozo, Kiko (8 April 2021). "La Inteligencia Artificial "revive" a Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison y otros del Club de los 27". FayerWayer (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
26. Serrano, Nacho (3 October 2020). "El Club de los 27, abierto hasta el amanecer". ABC (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
27. Mauro, Benjamin; Célières, Dominique (3 May 2020). "Le mystère du Club des 27". Vivre FM (in French). Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
28. Katondio Bayumitra, Wedya (22 May 2020). "George Best dan Klub 27". kumparan (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
29. "Клуб 27 - Интересные Факты". postfactum. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021.
30. "They Died Too Early". Ragnarock Museum (in Danish). 4 September 2020. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
31. Ben Avraham, Samantha (12 December 2018). "Top 10 Graffiti Art in Israel". Samantha Israel Tours. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
32. Jinwei Chan, Tristan (10 October 2017). "Seven gentrification success stories from cities around the world". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
33. Navot, Tal. "Gentrification - It's Not a Foul Word". The Urban Blog (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
34. "מרוססים עליהם: הגרפיטי #הכי_יפה_בעיר". טיים אאוט (in Hebrew). 5 July 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links

• "6 Incredible Street Art Pieces in Tel Aviv, Israel". The Mediterranean Observer. 1 May 2021.
• Peterson, Sydney. "12 Must-See Works Of Israeli Street Art". The Forward, 8 March 2017.
• 27 Club Graffiti Explained (video in Hebrew), Zahi Shaked,