Israel is a contemporary art hub that hosts numerous leading and emerging artists and numerous others traveling to and from Israel, exchanging art and culture on a global scale. All these creatives are responding to current political and religious issues through present-day, vibrant, and often experimental artistic practices. Israel takes great pride in its curators, artists, and galleries that you ought to visit while on an escorted tour to Israel. Besides great galleries like Dvir Gallery, Noga Gallery of Contemporary Art, Alon Segev, Sommer Gallery, or Rosenbach Contemporary, here are five other, equally fantastic places we recommend you visit.
The Jerusalem Artists’ House
You’ll find the Jerusalem Artists’ House in a historic edifice that originally housed “The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts” founded by Boris Schatz in 1906. It was home to the Bezalel National Museum, but its collections were moved to the Israel Museum when it opened its doors, thus becoming the first collection of the new museum. In 1965, the building became home to the Association for Jerusalem Artists, which turned the place into an energetic and exciting art center with exhibitions for all kinds of contemporary art lovers. It shows various works by Israeli and international artists, but also unique works by both the young, debuting and well-known artists. The Artists House proudly displays amazing and varied group exhibitions, as well as exhibitions produced through collaborations between Israeli and international artists.
Chelouche Gallery
The Twin Houses in the center of the White City is home to the Chelouche Gallery for Contemporary Art, celebrated for its contribution to global art. This architecturally significant building, built by Joseph Berlin, is a unique example of Tel Aviv architecture from the 1920s and 1930s. The Chelouche Gallery was opened in 1985 and moved into this building in 2010. The Gallery started International Art Encounters in 1996, which continues to this day. It emphasizes the collaboration between Israeli and international artists who share experiences and create joint exhibitions or discussions. The Gallery is also proud of the variety of their exhibitions each month, as well as the different media their exhibitions include, such as paintings, audio/visual works, 3D materials, and unconventional materials. Chamber music concerts are usually held on Sundays in their event space, with the lead violinist of the Israeli Philharmonic as the musical director.
Centre for Contemporary Art
The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) is a registered non-profit organization and a vital institution that presents experimental contemporary art. Its beginnings were humble in 1998, starting in a single small room at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. In 2005, the CCA moved to its own building in the Rachel and Israel Pollak Gallery in the center of Tel Aviv, which consist of an auditorium, three exhibition spaces, and an editing room, and where they produce four to six fascinating exhibitions annually, in addition to various and unique screenings, panels, lectures, and performances.
They’ve worked on numerous brilliant projects, including Blurrr – International Performance Art Biennial, VideoZone – International Video Art Biennial, and Fund for Video-Art and Experimental Cinema, and they’ve also established the Video Archive, which houses the collection of over five thousand video works by Israeli and international artists from 1960 to the present.
Braverman Gallery
Braverman Gallery was established in 2004 and since then has become a unique and significant part of Tel Aviv’s contemporary art scene. The Director of the Gallery is Adi Gura who focuses on contemporary art media, including video and installation art, as well as exciting and innovative projects such as Kate Gilmore’s Built to Burst, Uri Nir’s Accelerator, Gilad Ratman’s The Workshop, Ilit Azoulay’s No Thing Dies, Oren Eliav’s How to Disappear Completely, and numerous others. The gallery works both locally and internationally and is always promoting its artists worldwide, that way bringing Israeli artists’ art to international audiences. Many of its works were presented in America and Europe recently. Another amazing fact is that multiple acquisitions were made by significant art institutions, while many other works are featured in local and international collections, as well as in private collections all over the world.
Rothschild Fine Art
Located in the heart of culture and art in Tel Aviv, Rothschild Fine Art was founded in 2008 with an important goal to provide a space, context, and support in which all artists, local and international, can create exceptional and powerful art as they desire it to be. The gallery displays various exhibitions by leading Israeli and international contemporary artists, which audiences are bound to enjoy, such as Ken Kewley’s Bottles, Trees and Things or, the most recent, Ran Tenenbaum’s Illuminated, among many others. In addition to that, you can enjoy group exhibitions, gallery talks, evenings with artists, and various other events. The atmosphere itself is impressive and the staff will certainly help you with any questions you might have, whether you are an art lover, an art student, or a collector.
