The Highlights

Skip to content
  • Welcome to The Highlights, an online arts journal. Browse our archive below, read about the site, or send us an email.
Home
next
prev
  • Issue Author Title

    • XVII

      • Colleen Asper Labor with Rectangle
      • Dushko Petrovich & Roger White Monument Working Strategies LLC: Structuring Creative Freedom
      • Triple Candie Exhibition Preparations
      • Sean Raspet 2GFR24SMEZZ2XMCVI5L8X9Y38ZJ2JD…
      • Owen Kydd Handheld
      • Dan Levenson Notes From Jessica
      • Julia Rommel Easy Tacker
      • Jordan Kantor MAN(ET/DE)GAS
      • Sreshta Rit Premnath The Last Image
      • OJO The Adventures of Nuclear Wad & How He Learned To Stop Dreaming
    • XVI

      • Julia Sherman Re-Claiming Susan B. Anthony
      • Robert Hult Hasidic Street Posters in Brooklyn

      • I have been photographing Yiddish street posters in the Hasidic section of Williamsburg since first noticing them while biking through the neighborhood in 2009. Hung mostly with masking tape in the environs around Lee Avenue (the most commercial area in Hasidic ’Burg), these posters are aimed at a neighborhood’s with a highly pedestrian culture. Varying widely in what they advertise, they pitch diverse messages: from $25,000 raffles to rabbinical meetings, sales on hats, pointed philosophical positions, even fashion admonishments for young ladies. I’m fascinated by how this developing Hasidic visual vocabulary uses graphic design to broadcast to its neighborhood audience. Gradient fades and basic Photoshop filters are wrought upon classic Hebrew typography, while the aesthetic choices conveying Hasidic prerogatives offer a glimpse into an introverted community that sits apart as a cultural island in the heart of New York City.


        (Posters translated with the help of Adar Earon.)


        This is one of the first posters that caught my eye as I was passing through the neighborhood in 2009. The “shtreimel” hat (the traditional hat worn by Hasidic men) is spun entirely out of Hebrew characters. The text wraps around in spirals forming the hat, creating a jocular motion and evoking the fur exterior. The headline reads, “Everybody wears a Miller shtreimel!”

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Another poster from 2009. I was intrigued by the use of chess pieces. Also interesting are the small photos of “raffle” prizes in the lower right corner: a computer, a candelabra, and an airplane. The poster is an invitation to the Congregation Karli: “A privilege! We commit to the honor of your invitation to take part in our yearly party — the program: live music and Rebi Stanighgher.” Also interesting is the interjection of some English to accentuate the attractions, offering “Original Slides” and a “Renown Speaker.” This congregation even has a website.

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Some amazing effects on the type here, and an eye-catching composition. I like the Torah “logo” in the bottom center. It’s an invitation to the annual dinner party of Congregation Kashi. It seems the posters help congregations compete for members. It reads: “Capture your interest: a MEETING on next Sunday.” Below the Torah logo is a list of members of the committee, perhaps well known in the community.

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Another shtreimel hat ad from 2009, this one placing a hat between a blue sky and a computer generated sunburst, suggesting movement. The text is what you might expect from a hat ad: “Seeing you in the holy day with the finest and beautiful cover.” “Ready in one hour.” “Best on market, Comfortable on the head.” The use of the watch photo indicating a limited-time offer makes the poster all the more urgent.

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Many of the posters are just basic type set in one or two colors, using a formal and austere Hebrew font, as in this one from 2011. It’s a strong admonishment: “Dear Jewish daughters: Now when we prepare ourselves for the summer days, we need to make sure that we dress properly.” “Do not wear bright colors cloth and the new fashionable TANK TOPS. This is the code for how a noble Jewish woman and girls need to dress.”

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        This gem from the Dinov Yeshiva heads for the fantastical, mixing the congregation’s extravagant logo with an eagle image over a blazing sunset and a yellow swoosh. I think the use of the eagle may be a reference to an important passage in Exodus 19:4: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you (va’esa eschem) on the wings of nesharim, and brought you to Myself.” The poster reads: “Strengthens us with your maximum giving.” “The yearly dinner.” “So we can continue our holy work with steady force.”

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Featuring a floating amulet resting on a book with cash pages, this poster boasts a sale at a local book seller, “The Book’s House.” Another yellow swoosh brings our eyes to a smokey blue background and the message, “Winter sale, 15%–50% off on the entire business for one week.”

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        The smiling little boy featured on here reappears in a few different varieties of street posters for this organization. They all ask for donations for Bonei Olem, a charity that assists Jews with funding for all aspects of infertility-related treatments. Is the shelf full of “confidential” folders meant to imply a doctor’s office? The logo on the folder is a tree made of little people, an effective iconographic symbol of fertility.

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        Another poster advertising a meeting at a local congregation, “Grace Abraham.” It advertises a “grand raffle” to raise money for its institutions. The “money tree” is pretty exceptional for its 3-D computer rendering, with cash leaves blowing from a tree situated on a serene seaside landscape. The $25,000 cash and coupons advertised below get a heavy use of Photoshop gradient effects, with some “lens flares” for accent.

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         


        I saw this one in February 2012. The photocopied papers feature some strong imagery of a Hasidic man being arrested, and of an Orthodox boy under assault by two dark-skinned men. It’s apparently about the difficult life that the Orthodox Jews are having in Israel and how much they suffer from decrees that were issued by the Isreali government and army. The boy says in a traditional cartoon word balloon, “Oh, oh, this is the last piece of bread!”

        Robert Hult is an artist, art dealer, and global warming research scientist based in Brooklyn, NY. His work on reporting protocol for quantifying carbon dioxide sequestration from urban tree stomata has yet to be recognized by the larger scientific community.

        Save article as PDF
      • Runo Lagomarsino Pedro’s Story: An Unsuccessful Transatlantic Traveller
      • John Houck Pine Ridge: An interview with Jim Houck
      • Brian Zegeer Dragoman of Little Syria
      • Sidney Russell Kuna Yala Swag
      • Desirée Holman Outer Spaces: Part I
      • Faith47 The Unexpected Present
      • Carmen Winant Personal Best
      • Philip-Lorca diCorcia Red Bull Snake
    • XV

      • Jessica Green & Tom Griffiths Terra Incognita (A Video Game Folly)
      • Prem Krishnamurthy The People’s Representation: On Staged Graphics in Klaus Wittkugel’s Work
      • Cian O'Day N/A, or On the Dark Stores of Brian Ulrich
      • Yasmeen M. Siddiqui Avatar Gone Analog: Musings on The Bridge Project by Do Ho Suh
      • Emily Larned ARTS 02–2011: The Artist-Created Institution as Art Practice
      • Yoonjai Choi & Ken Meier Interview with Metahaven
      • Aaron Kunin Space and Place in Two Video Installations by Amie Siegel
      • Tom Griffiths Interview with Barbara Griffiths
    • XIV

      • Colleen Asper & Justin Lieberman In Conversation
      • Dushko Petrovich & Roger White Report To The Committee On Periodical Group Exhibitions
      • Ryan Mrozowski & Mike Womack Before-Biennial-After
      • Kay Rosen Waiting for Michael Asher
      • Kate Gilmore Drag
    • XIII

      • Talia Chetrit Van Hanos’s Harlem Studio
      • Mieke Marple The Lives of Objects at The Suburban
      • Laurel Nakadate Island Light
      • C.D. Parker Draw Me a Pie Chart Powerfully
      • Alan Reid Despondent Babysitter
      • Lucy Kim & Leeza Meksin Art Crimes
    • XII

      • Anonymous On Looking at Nature: An Untitled Petition on Crapomimicry
      • Paul Huf Musical Box with a Dancing Ballerina
      • Lance Wakeling Voluntary Sculptures: Photographing the Unmonumental
      • David Kennedy-Cutler Possession Obsession
      • Nine Budde Stopping by at a Friends’ Place
      • Cody Trepte Untitled (Something Clever Here)
    • XI

      • Adam Helms Hirschhorn at Gladstone Gallery
      • David Scanavino Fact or Fiction
      • Jason Tomme The Voodoo of Robert Irwin
      • Kristin Posehn The Rocks of Rocklin
      • Joanne Greenbaum Decorating the Void: On Clay and Dirt on Delight
    • X

      • Jennifer Dudley Interview with Daniel Bozhkov
      • Dushko Petrovich & Roger White Report to the Committee on Decentered Practices
      • Shana Lutker Artists Are Not
      • Steve Cairns & Isla Leaver-Yap Blind Carbon Copy
      • Katarina Burin Rooms No One Lives In
      • Jonathan Bogarin What’s Your Context?
      • Sara Greenberger Rafferty Master of None
    • IX

      • Andrea Hill Fact, Factoid, Factotum
      • Nicholas Weist We’re Interested in Your White Horse
      • Tyler Coburn Ronnie Bass at I-20
      • Allison Kave Doa Aly and Juan William Chavez
      • Gillian Sneed Interview with Adam Pendleton
    • VIII

      • Jacob Hashimoto Interview with Luis Gispert
      • Lilly McElroy Guy Maddin’s Winnipeg
      • Kevin Zucker Thematic Apperception Test
      • Ian Cooper That’s What He Said
      • Colleen Asper Interview with Matt Borruso
    • VII

      • Mieke Marple Interview with Michelle Grabner
      • Farrah Karapetian Reframing Mirrors and Windows
      • Ruby Sky Stiler That’s What She Said
      • Spencer Finch New Zealand Light
      • Dana Frankfort John Walker: Text in/and Painting
      • The Editors Whitney Biennial 2008
    • VI

      • Katie Herzog Bay Area Figurative Language
      • Matt Connors Teignmouth Electron by Tacita Dean
      • Connelly LaMar New Photography 2007 at MOMA
      • Ethan Greenbaum Inside Lights
      • Matthew Lancit Cleaning Magritte’s Pipe
    • V

      • Roger White Jay Heikes at Marianne Boesky
      • Luke Stettner Interview with Michael DeLucia
      • Erin Shirreff Michel Auder: The Feature
      • Jessica Lansdon Interview with Brian Bress
      • Lisha Bai Suzanne Song at Michael Steinberg Fine Art
    • IV

      • Mariah Robertson Conditions in Time
      • Jacob Feige Psychopathia Pastoralis
      • Eric Golo Stone Interview with George Kontos
      • Skyler Brickley Keith Tyson at PaceWildenstein
      • Lumi Tan Curatorial Project with Jo-ey Tang
    • III

      • George Rush Wayne Gonzales at Paula Cooper
      • Jacqueline Cooper Margaret Wall-Romana at Bucheon Gallery
      • Ana Wolovick Robin Rhode at Perry Rubenstein
      • Skyler Brickley Nicholas Krushenick at Marianne Boesky
      • Luke Stettner Peter Young at PS1
      • Ethan Greenbaum Daniel Gordon Interview
    • II

      • Christine Frerichs Rebecca Morris at Karyn Lovegrove Gallery
      • Skyler Brickley Josh Smith at Luhring Augustine
      • Ethan Greenbaum Kristen Baker at Deitch Projects
    • I

      • Mark Barrow On Abstraction
      • Tova Carlin Superstudio
      • Julia Weist Johannes Vanderbeek at Zach Feuer
      • Skyler Brickley Wilhelm Sasnal at Anton Kern
      • Ethan Greenbaum Cement Garden at Marvelli Gallery