TEN-O-FOUR
Israel Solomon is an Indianapolis-based visual artist and educator whose work is rooted in connection to people, community, and place. Storytelling is a central part of Solomon’s work, and each of his pieces prompts a pause of evaluation from the viewer, whether they encounter his artwork at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, where he has acted as a visiting artist for the past year; in the moving mural of Indianapolis jazz musician Wes Montgomery, that has traveled around the region; as part of the Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue; in his wall-spanning “For George Floyd” mural on Mass Ave; or in the Harrison Center’s own City Gallery this month.
Taylor with Flowers. Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x 40”
“Ten-O-Four” is Solomon’s latest body of work, featuring paintings that lie along a spectrum from geometric to scenic, with an impactful integration of the two meeting in the middle. The juxtaposition creates a semi-surrealistic quality, just one step aside from the naturally occurring world, as human forms are portrayed with angular, almost digital precision. While Solomon often utilizes blue hues to portray skin tone, as in “Lemonade Stand,” this exhibit features mainly natural, flesh tones set against rich pastels and deep hues. The resulting kaleidoscopic effect is seen in pieces like “Taylor with Flowers,” a portrait of Solomon’s daughter, created as part of a series that focuses on his family.
Lemonade Stand. Acrylic on Canvas, 60” x 48”
The attention to both the background and the foreground keeps the viewer’s mind from settling in one spot, an effect which Solomon describes as “a color pulse and rhythm” that creates movement throughout the painting. Though the patterns and forms contrast, as the human body doesn’t fit cleanly against sharp lines, the color choice and depth make every angle appear soft and inviting. Solomon’s paintings give you a face-to-face audience with the subject and capture the street you happen to be passing by, prompting contemplation not only of the image, but of the moment in time that seems to surround it.
Five Little Ladies. Acrylic on Canvas, 24” x 36”
Solomon’s art is conscious of the story it portrays, bestowing an intimately human quality embedded in a world of patterns. His depiction of George Floyd, for the Murals for Racial Justice Project, for example, placed Floyd alongside his mother and his son; a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. that Solomon painted for the Children’s Museum includes King’s wife and children.
Perhaps his experience as a middle school arts educator has impressed this awareness of what viewers may absorb from his work. The people and the patterns portrayed in Solomon’s art and in “Ten-O-Four” are not a challenge, per se, but may be a teacher’s nudge, to pause and see more from the beautiful stories of people and communities than the brief moments that society has chosen to pay the most attention to.
Shantay with Flowers. Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 24”
Ten-O-Four by Israel Solomon will be on display in the Harrison Center’s City Gallery for the month of February. The exhibit can be viewed by appointment as well as in our online gallery, where all pieces are available for purchase.
Find more of Soloman’s work on his website and on Instagram, @israelsoloart.