Local muralist Pierre Nagley has been hard at work on his newest installation — a sprawling piece he's dedicating to the victims in the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
A love letter to Gaza
- Published: July 13, 2024
Local muralist Pierre Nagley is at it again — this time, behind the Millworks Business Center.
Over the last blazing-hot week, the artist has put the beginning strokes on a new mural — one dedicated to those affected by the ongoing Israel-Hamas War that, as of press time, has claimed about 186,000 lives in Gaza and displaced over 75% of the Palestinians living there, casting them in a nightmarish humanitarian crisis.
Dappled across Nagley’s canvas is a gradient backdrop of soft periwinkles and sunset golds. Before this dusky sky are shoots of Faqqua irises — the national flower of Palestine that grows only one single flower and dies standing upright. The foreground is more abstract. Geometric shapes in patchwork earth tones may look like graves, buildings, rubble or even people — Nagley leaves it up for interpretation.
Forthcoming in Nagley’s ongoing mural are Palestinian sunbirds — a symbol of freedom, he said — and a gnarled, tangled knot that hands struggle to untie. This Gordian metaphor will represent the horrific complexities associated with the ongoing war. Those images will hover above the irises, and will eventually become the foci of the mural.
Nagley said he still has about two weeks to go on his sprawling love letter to Gaza. During that time, the artist encourages villagers and passersby to stop and say hello — to talk with him about the art and its message. Nagley’s canvas is right along the bike path, just a minute’s walk past the YS Brewery’s outdoor patio. He said he’s there painting most days, from 1:30 p.m. until sunset.
Materials and paint for Nagley’s mural were made possible by a donation from the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.
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