Gary Goldstein
LOCATION:
Rishon Letzion
ART DIRECTION:
Ghostown
We are thrilled to have collaborated with Gary Goldstein, an unsung hero of the Israeli art scene whom we have long admired. His mural on a private building in central Rishon Lezion presents two monumental flowers, fixed rather than fleeting. They represent the turning of nature into culture, taking what withers in the real world and giving it a permanent place on the city’s streets.
The Nashville-born artist, who moved to Israel in the 1970s, spent decades refining a distinctive punk pop comic style, built around narrative scenes and a generous dose of irony. Flowers are not a typical motif for Goldstein, whose work usually centres on the human figure. Yet he finds a quiet irony in making these flowers permanent rather than perishable, fixing what is meant to fade.
The flowers carry a formal, almost ceremonial presence, set against a backdrop that feels just as composed. Their sheer scale stretches the gap between the quick sketch that first defined them and the living flowers they echo in nature. Goldstein speaks of an unexpected calm that rises from this tension, that in its own way, gives him hope.
