Andrew cotton - nyc
Bitachon
By Tehila at The Zion ListI’m just gonna come out and say it: Jewish graffiti is the thing that’s been missing from your life. I didn’t realize it myself until I came across the work of Andrew Cotton, a North London artist now residing in NYC. His bold work is a feast for the eyes, a thrill for the heart, and a primal scream for the soul.
In Cotton's world, holy concepts like Bitachon, Teshuva, and Hineini plead not to be seen, but to be experienced. There's nothing “pretty” to be found here. Quite the opposite. Seeing these big Jewish ideas stripped of any polish is akin to seeing the truth laid bare. We talk about bitachon and teshuva as beautiful ideals, but actually doing the work they demand of us can be messy. It can leave us feeling much like the paintings themselves: raw, bruised, and a little battered.
Next, we have the portraits. I cannot with the portraits. When was the last time you saw Golda Meir with “Thug Life” stamped on her face? Or Bibi sporting a thick chain, a gangster teardrop, and “FAFO” tattooed on his forehead? Each portrait is packed with small details that weave together a story of what the person has brought to Am Yisrael.
And there is SO much more. Cotton’s website is a wild ride through years of his work. It’s bold, chaotic, funny, surprising, and hard to pull yourself out of. I want to see it in real life, I want to stand in a room surrounded by it, and most of all, I want some of it in my house.
Discovering Andrew Cotton was a surprise and a delight. The post-October 7th Jewish world needs to embrace the confident, no BS version of ourselves his work brings to the surface. He’s daring it out of us, one painting at a time. We are here, in all our brazen, imperfect glory. And we aren’t going anywhere.
Don’t like it? Then I guess you’ll have to just… FAFO.
At a Glance
Who: Andrew Cotton
Where: New York City
Why It’s On The List: His work shows us a version of ourselves that's loud, messy, raw, true, and a little unhinged.
Website: andrewcotton.com
Find Them: Instagram
All images courtesy of Andrew Cotton.
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