EDUCATION & CULTURE
MICHAEL Solomon really doesnt mind if you dont understand his paintings.
Lots of people dont, he says. But they still enjoy them.
He also doesnt mind if you understand them in ways different from his own.
He points to one red-dominated painting. One might see a rose within its abstract forms, he agrees. Others might see violence. Or passion.
He turns to another painting right by its side, one in which blue and white are the dominant colors. That could be the Israeli flag. Or spirituality. Or sky. Or water. Or all of the above.
When people ask him why so many of his paintings are dominated by black and other ultra-deep hues, Solomon is likely to respond that black is simply his favorite color.
Or he might say that such darkness reflects the tragedies he has experienced in his life the deaths of loved ones, episodes of anti-Semitism which he was forced to overcome.
Or he might suggest that he merely intended a particular painting to look good in a room filled with a certain type, or color, of furniture. As a former interior designer, he is never too artsy for such aesthetic considerations.
But when asked about the flowing lines and circular motion that characterize so many of his paintings, the artistic mystique rises in full force.
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