There's Art Outside of Tel Aviv, You Just Have to Look
While Tel Aviv's scene may steal most of the spotlight, art centers and museums throughout Israel offer exciting, cutting-edge artists and works.
Petah Tikva Museum
Every opening at the Petah Tikva Museum in recent years has attracted the usual Tel Aviv milieu and become a legitimate topic for living room conversation. The museum has been bold recently: the themes it has chosen to deal with have a clear social agenda, from "High heels in the sand," curated by Revital Ben Asher Peretz in 2005, the first exhibition in Israel that dealt with the theme of human trafficking and Dor Guez’s solo exhibition Georgeopolis 2009-2010, studying the Arab-Christian minority in Israel.
Don’t miss: The Art-Society-Community, a cluster of exhibitions, featuring local and international artists working in the Israeli periphery. the jewel in the crown is the Of-Ar Project, designed to promote the transformation of the deserted, monumental textile factory which collapsed in 1988, into a new type of community space, reusing the building without destroying or renovating it—in collaboration with local entrepreneur Yitzhak Krispel, Efrat-Kowalsky Architects, and Dan Hasson.
Coming soon: In September, an exhibition of Culture Ministry prize winning pieces will be put on display.
The Herzliya Museum
In 2007, when the Herzliya Museum opened its first biennial exhibition, art dealers and average Joes alike rushed to visit the capital of the Sharon. Guy Ben-Ner, Doron Ravina, and other artists well known in the local scene put their work on display in the museum, as well as other surprising spots around town, alongside world renowned artists like Ben Hagari. Since then, the Herzliya Museum has been considered a center for young, relevant art, consistently displaying solo exhibitions from promising artists alongside thought provoking group displays – illustrating their desire to develop young talent.
Don’t miss: Satellites, the first Israeli exhibition of works by Omer Fast, whose work has been exhibited in New York’s Whitney Museum.
Coming soon: During Sukkot, Herzliya Museum will launch its third biennial, including a display of art from Taiwan, which will bring rare works from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum to Israel.
The Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon
This is the face of the future. The Israeli Center for Digital Art, funded by the Holon municipality, functions as a kind of funnel for different endeavors: Ma'arav, an online magazine dealing with communications, art, and culture; Khalas, experimental online radio station Khalas, who also allows to listen live to conferences and events held at the center; as well as a video archive focused on art from the Middle East, Western Europe and the Balkans.
Running parallel with these, are the center's exhibition, such as "According to Foreign Sources," which was recently featured at the center, and which dealt with concealment and censorship, hosting such guests as American photographer Trevor Paglen.
Don’t miss: The "Perverts" exhibit deals with deviations from the norm through a batch of works dealing with the issue of media manipulation.
Coming soon: the "Le'an" [Where?] exhibit will open in late April, centering on movements and ideologies who "lost out" to the Zionist ideal.
The Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art
The Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art is devoted entirely to Israeli art, which is already point in its favor. For the last four years the museum has nurtured two tracks: the "Friday-Sunday" project, a monthly exhibit featuring the debut of one young artist, and a track aimed at exhibiting veteran artists who have not received their due recognition.
Coming soon: A group exhibit will open in September, dealing with the influence of Israeli painter Lea Nikel on younger artists. A solo exhibit of the work of veteran artist Yair Garbuz is also expected.