Speed Painting

Michael Israel, a strapping Yanni lookalike, is what you might call a speed painter. To songs like “Pump it Up,” he jumps around on stage, splattering a spinning canvas with paints. For the first few minutes his brushstrokes don’t seem to add up, but by the fifth minute a pop-art...

By Penn Bullock

November 5, 2009

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Michael Israel, a strapping Yanni lookalike, is what you might call a speed painter. To songs like “Pump it Up,” he jumps around on stage, splattering a spinning canvas with paints. For the first few minutes his brushstrokes don’t seem to add up, but by the fifth minute a pop-art portrait of, say, Muhammad Ali or John Lennon will suddenly swim into view and blow out an audience. It’s a brilliant routine that Israel says was born of “impatience and martial arts.” He’s performed for presidents and alongside Bruce Springsteen. He says his pieces can be “wildly emotional” and spur audiences to hugging, crying, and jumping up on chairs in applause. “It’s kind of a rock concert,” he says Tonight’s your chance to catch him in action, with a live auction afterward to benefit Boca’s Festival of the Arts.

Cirque de Soleil Meets Picasso — Michael Israel Art to Music is happening at the de Hoernle Amphitheater, Mizner Park, (590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton) at 8 p.m. All-inclusive tickets get you access to the pre and post event and cost $150. General admission costs $25. Call 561-368-8445, or visit festivaloftheartsboca.org.
Thu., Nov. 5, 8 p.m., 2009

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