27 Club graffiti in Tel Aviv

The 27 Club graffiti is a mural in Tel Aviv, Israel, painted by John Kiss with the assistance of Itai Froumin and Roman Kozhokin. 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.

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.

Development


Kiss chose the holiday of Rosh Hashana as the time to execute the work and ensure that the police would be unable to reach the public art department in the city hall. To convince police that the large work was indeed commissioned, he made himself and the team wear yellow vests and yellow helmets like city hall workers. ''

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

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

He painted the portraits of the famous artists in colors, but left his own portrait at the far right in gray.

The result, 3 m high by 7 m wide, depicted seven artists from the "27 Club". 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".

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."



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

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

Outside of Israel, the work appeared in articles in Polish, Italian, Spanish,  French, Indonesian, Russian, and others.

Prints of it appeared in international museum exhibits. It is considered one of the top graffiti works in Israel.

It became a symbol of the gentrification process in South Tel Aviv, as well as an icon of the city. Time Out Magazine cited this work among "The most beautiful in Tel Aviv."