APRIL 27 • 2023 | 75

P

ainter Solomon Souza, at 
just 29, is arguably one of 
the world’s most prolific 
street artists. His creative genius, 
and the artist himself, were on 
full display for an inspiring 
multicultural event 
on Sunday, April 
16, the Art of Israel 
Today, at the Janice 
Charach Gallery 
inside the Jewish 
Community Center 
(JCC) in West 
Bloomfield.
The occasion 
marked the official opening 
reception in the gallery for Souza’s 
exhibition, Solomon Souza: From 
Israel to Detroit, featuring more 
than 20 of his works, including 
an original breathtaking mural 
painted exclusively for his 
appearance that draws on his 
diverse roots and broad worldview. 
His young life and life’s work have 
been profoundly inspired by the 
unique blend of his British, Indian, 
Israeli and Jewish heritage.
Born in Britain in 1993, today 
living in Jerusalem, Solomon is 
the grandson of the legendary 
late Indian artist Francis Newton 
Souza, known as the “Picasso of 
India” and the late Liselotte Kohn, 
a Jewish refugee from Prague 
who fled the Nazi invasion of 
Czechoslovakia in 1939. 
Together, Francis and Liselotte 
had three children, the eldest being 
Solomon’s mother, British-Israeli 
painter Karen Souza-Kohn. 
Solomon has exhibited works 
around the world including murals 
in Australia, Israel, across the U.S. 
and now in our very own backyard. 
With cans of spray paint as his 
tools and walls as his canvas, he 
tells stories and paints portraits of 
personalities from all walks of life 
and ethnicities, from Golda Meir 
and Steven Spielberg to Mahatma 

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

The Janice Charach 
Gallery honors Israel’s 
75th anniversary.

The Mural 
Magic of

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