Graffiti News

A damaged wall carries a message of thanks

Palestinian artists have painted American singer Dan Reynolds on the remains of a destroyed building in Gaza city to thank him for a gesture they understood as solidarity. According to The National's September 22, 2026 report, the mural shows the Imagine Dragons frontman alongside a Palestinian flag. Its surface is part of a building damaged in Israeli attacks.

The setting matters to how the work is read. A portrait on a damaged structure brings the subject into direct relation with the place where the artists are working. The wall carries evidence of destruction as well as an image addressed to someone outside Gaza. For people following public art, that relationship between a picture and its physical surroundings is central to the mural's meaning.

The artists describe the painting as an expression of gratitude. That stated purpose offers a starting point for understanding the portrait: a response from Gaza to a public action by a musician, made through the materials and surfaces available to its creators.

A concert gesture became an image in Gaza

The mural refers to Reynolds raising a Palestinian flag during an Imagine Dragons concert in Milan, Italy, on May 27, 2025. The National reports that he received the flag near the end of the show, held it up, wrapped it around his shoulders and kissed it. Video of the moment circulated widely online.

The painting gives that performance moment another form. A gesture made before a concert audience travelled through video and became the subject of a wall painting. Viewed through street-art culture, the sequence shows how people far from a stage can respond to its images and assign them significance within their own surroundings. Here, the artists explicitly connected the flag to support for Palestinians.

The National also places the gesture alongside criticism of the band's earlier decision to play in Israel. Imagine Dragons performed for about 60,000 people at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in August 2023 despite cancellation appeals from pro-Palestinian campaigners. In a 2024 Rolling Stone interview, Reynolds defended performing for audiences regardless of their government's actions. The mural records the Gaza artists' appreciation within that wider, contested history.

Anne Ridvan works with scarce materials and damaged buildings

Palestinian artist Anne Ridvan, 26 at the time of the report, is among the mural's creators. According to The National, she was an artist before the war and lost her tools and materials during the conflict. She then began painting directly on damaged structures, bringing colour to devastated streets and communicating with people beyond Gaza.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ridvan described wanting to thank Reynolds from within the destruction. She also described difficulty obtaining paints and brushes, finding a place where she could work comfortably, and facing the threat of a strike while painting. Those conditions are part of the account of how the work was made, rather than incidental details around the finished portrait.

For mural followers, her experience draws attention to the practical conditions behind an image. Access to a surface does not resolve shortages of supplies or the danger an artist describes. The National also reports that Ridvan painted rapper Macklemore in September 2026. Together, the reported portraits suggest a practice of answering public expressions of support through images made in Gaza.

The report does not establish a visitor destination

The mural is located in Gaza city, but The National provides no precise address, opening arrangements or confirmation of public access. A report of a painting on a damaged building is insufficient to plan a visit, particularly given Ridvan's account of the risks surrounding her work. No viewing route can be established from the published information.

For readers documenting the mural, its authorship, setting and stated purpose belong alongside the portrait. Keeping those details together preserves the connection between Reynolds's gesture and the artists who chose to answer it. A cropped celebrity image alone would leave out much of the reason this wall painting matters as public art.

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Source: The National