Chabad Islington showcases the works of multi-talented cartoonist - The Jewish Chronicle

Chabad Islington’s current art exhibition within its own art gallery Ein Sof – a unique feature of Islington Chabad – is showcasing the work of versatile and talented artist Keren Keet.

Keet, 45, has been creating pieces of art since childhood, but, while at Birmingham University, where she studied English, decided to broaden her career aim from just acting to becoming an artist, cartoonist, dramatist, illustrator – and a comedian.

Becoming more religiously observant in her first year, she transferred to Queen Mary, University of London, so as to be in London and engage more in Jewish life.

Indeed, much of the art that Keet creates is Jewish themed, with her favourite being a painting of the Kotel – ‘Im Eshkocheich’ – where she has added Jewish symbols to each brick.

[Missing Credit]‘Im Eshkocheich’ by Keren Keet

But the mother of five, who recently became a grandmother, also creates art based on her personal interests. “I do whatever interests me. There are a lot of different topics, and there are a lot of different genres. Whatever I feel like painting at the time, that’s what I’ll paint. Some of my paintings are of ballet, but I’ve also got portraits of my children and of animals.”

[Missing Credit]Miriam With a Spoon by Keren Keet

As for her cartooning, Keet focuses almost exclusively on Jewish topics – both cultural and religious.

Feeling “fortunate” to be one of the few Jewish cartoonists working in the UK, she says: “I’ve always loved cartoons, and it was really when I started trying to work with professional artists that I realised I was much more interested in illustration than fine art. I always thought it would be so cool if I could make cartoons myself.” Among her commissions, Keet has drawn cartoons for the Aish website.

[Missing Credit]Chicken Soup by Keren Keet

Surprisingly, her favourite Jewish artist is not Chagall, despite him being, in her eyes, “the most renowned”. Instead, Keet, who lives in Edgware and teaches art at Beis Yaakov school, is a fan of Gadi Pollack, an Israeli illustrator of Charedi children’s stories, who has illustrated around 50 books during his career, which, says Keet, are “very well done...very entertaining and very engaging”.

However, her favourite artist of all time is Rembrandt. Keet says she “could sit in front of a Rembrandt for hours, just marvelling”.

Despite giving up her dream of becoming an actor when she became more religiously observant, Keet still engages with drama and has written several shows.

Some time ago, she discovered that her true calling in the world of performance lay in comedy. “It’s just such a wonderful thing for me to laugh and to make people happy,” she says, citing Harry Enfield, French and Saunders and Monty Python as some of her greatest comedic influences.

The show she is most proud of creating is Don’t get in a Schvitz, which “is about a woman approaching her 40th wedding anniversary. She wants to have a big party, and she decides to find her long lost sister, so goes to a suspicious detective, who eventually helps. I don’t want to give it away in case anyone wants the video.”

[Missing Credit]Don’t Get in a Schvitz, written by and starring Keren Keet (front row, third from right)

As for the future, Keet says she hopes to find time for more projects between the many she already has. “I have quite limited time because of my teaching job, which I love, and my family commitments. If something comes along, which is a good opportunity or is very exciting from a creative point of view, then I’m always open to that sort of thing.”

In the meantime, her next goal is to write a book.

@keren_keet

The Joy of Life

by Keren Keet

July 15 2025 – Sep 2 2025

at the Ein Sof Gallery

Chabad Islington

Topics:

Islington Chabad