Museum Expansion Boosts Tel Aviv Art Scene

THE TORONTO SUN
Ari Rabinovitch, Reuters

Visitors look at paintings by German artist Anselm Kiefer in a section of a new wing. (Reuters/ Nir Elias)

ISRAEL - The new wing, designed by Massachusetts architect Preston Scott Cohen, has doubled the size of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art by 19,000 square metres (200,000 square feet) and lured a growing number of art fans through its new, triangular concrete and glass complex since its November 3 unveiling. Many of the newly displayed pieces include elements of Israeli society, from military conscription to the agricultural communes known as kibbutzim. And alongside the locals, works by renown German artist Anselm Kieffer, which were inspired by Jewish faith and mysticism, make up a special exhibit for the new wing's opening. [link]