Budding artist Oron Tal, 11, will exhibit his first solo show during the LIC Arts Open. Tal, a fifth grader at the Solomon Schechter School of Queens, is bubbly, talkative, sure headed — he knows what he wants and can create a painting in about 20 minutes to an hour — and a bit fidgety.
He comes from an artistic family; his father creates carved wooden sculptures and his sister works as a fashion designer.
The exhibition titled “11: Paintings and Drawings, 2010-2012,” will be held in the M55 Gallery on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
Tal will donate proceeds from the sale of his framed artwork, priced from $100 to $200, to Beit Issie Shapiro, a nonprofit organization in Israel focusing on new therapies for children and adults with disabilities.The Tals, who live in Hollis Hills, visited the nonprofit last summer.
“I like to help out,” Tal said.
“Oron’s act of tzedakah [charity] is not only very meaningful in the Jewish tradition, but also illustrates the growing awareness andincrease in youth philanthropy,” executive director of The American Friends of Beit Issie Shapiro, Irma Friedman said.
The fifth grader started working with artist Valentina DuBasky in 2010 when he was 8. DuBasky has shown her art in 150 exhibitions nationally and internationally. She is also the founder and executive director of Art-in-a-Box, an international nonprofit.
Tal works with paint, clay and pencil — though his work on Saturday will showcase his paintings and ink pieces called nib work. His artwork is cute, playful and brightly colored. The young artist draws from his experiences, said his mother, Marcia Tal. Last year the family took a trip to Paris, where Tal gleaned inspiration for a few paintings of cafes and Parisians. One of his paintings depicts a fashionable talk show host with a crying guest.
“People in talk shows are always crying,” Tal said.
He paints the things he likes such as his brother’s friend’s chinchilla, Babka; his dog, Tiger; and colorful people, outrageous fashion and the pop star who embodies both those things, Lady Gaga. Additionally he often likes to imagine his subject matter.
“I make people up,” Tal said. “You can do whatever you want with their faces.”
He’s learning how to deal with little mistakes. The painting shown here was destined for the trash, said his mother, but with a little prodding from DuBasky, Tal turned an ink blot gone awry into a lock of hair on the far side of the subject’s face.
“Mistakes can turn into masterpieces,” Tal said.
11: Paintings and Drawings
When: May 20, noon to 6 p.m.
Where: M55 Gallery, 44-02 23 St., LIC
Tickets: Free; paintings are for sale
M55art.org, (718) 729-2988
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