Have paints, will travel Have paints, will travel (August 19, 2005)

Maxine Solomon offers un-touristy views of foreign cultures

By Katie Vaughn

A new series of paintings and drawings on display at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts reveals a San Francisco artist's experiences traveling to locales around the world. In "Verisimilitude," Maxine Solomon explores -- and challenges -- the ways Westerners typically view foreign cultures.

The show, which Solomon said examines "the quality of appearing to be true or real," is the product of trips she and her husband have taken over the past 10 years as retirees volunteering for the U.S. Agency for International Development. During their visits to such countries as Zambia, Morocco, Laos, Armenia, Cambodia and Ghana, Solomon's husband specializes in economic development projects, while she works with local artists and children.

Solomon said the USAID missions have allowed her and her husband to experience, as well as view, cultures in a way most Americans do not.

"We in the West tend to go into a developing country and say, 'This is what you should do,'" Solomon said. "We tend to see people through our own eyes, but our perception of their reality often has nothing to do with what their reality really is."

The paintings in the "Verisimilitude" exhibit feature people Solomon has met and befriended through her travels. Using sketches and memories from her trips, the artist created large, colorful and wildly stroked paintings that capture the residents and moods of the places she's visited.

"Basically, I found that unless a subject creates some strong feelings within me, I just can't paint it," she said.

Solomon found such subject matter in an Armenian couple she and her husband got to know on a five-week trip. In her painting "Irena & Vartan: Byurakan, Armenia," she rendered the couple on the right side of a large canvas, leaving in the opposite section a blurred suggestion of an entryway and staircase. The wrinkled-faced pair wears bright, old-fashioned clothing, with the man glancing to his right and the woman looking out from the painting.

"We spent some wonderful afternoons in their home," Solomon said. "The Armenian people have experienced so much depravation, but they are so warm. They are so hospitable and generous."

Another group Solomon felt compelled to paint is four young Laotian monks she and her husband met with daily during a trip there. "Boontieng and the Novices: Luang Prabang, Laos" shows four young men standing, squatting or sitting in orange robes amid an abstracted green-and-gray environment. Although the monks wear traditional garb, Solomon said she was taken by their youthfulness.

"They were studying Buddhism, and yet they were such typical teenage boys," she said. "They were just delightful young men."

In a different painting, Solomon used color to help convey the mood of a Moroccan city she visited. She offset the image of a resting restaurant owner in a white robe and turban with a red tile floor and bold turquoise walls, table and stools.

"To me, that bluey-greeny feel says Fez," Solomon said.

But the man she depicted in "Hamid: Fez, Morocco" is also significant. When her husband had to fly to London due to a dental emergency, he asked the restaurant owner and his employees to help look after his wife while she stayed behind.

"They took that like a mandate," Solomon said. "If I didn't show up for a meal, they came looking for me."

In this painting, as well as others, Solomon slightly obscured the man's face. In many of her works, she uses wispy or slashing brushstrokes, applying as many as 30 layers and oftentimes rendering certain areas indiscernible. She does this intentionally, to remind viewers to think about what they are seeing and the perspective from which they are seeing it.

"The reason so much is obscured goes back to not seeing reality," Solomon said.

The show also features two series of drawings Solomon created by adding vibrant color to photo transfers. The large works, which have both detailed and gritty graphic qualities, are compilations of images of Vietnamese houseboats and food stands in Ghana.

Solomon said her paintings and drawings are natural companions to her extensive traveling. She urges people to use the same sense of exploratory adventure and open-mindedness in both pursuits.

"To me, painting and traveling are similitudes," Solomon said. "They have the same effect. You never know where either is going to lead you. It's constant discovery."
INFORMATION: What: "Verisimilitude," a collection of paintings and drawings by Maxine Solomon Where: Lobby of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. When: Through Oct. 17. The lobby is open Mon., Wed. and Fri., 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and one hour prior to performances. Contact: Call (650) 903-6000, or visit www.mvcpa.com or www.maxinesolomon.com

E-mail Katie Vaughn at kvaughn@mv-voice.com

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