Translation:

18-7-2003

NIW – Dutch News and Culture Weekly. Holland.

COLOR EXPLOSION FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Omer and Tal paint in bright colors. Red, blue and Hebrew poetic art splash from their canvases. The interaction between poetry and colorful shapes give the paintings a special and powerful expression. In the abstractions you will often see naked female figures, as part of the joyful and innocent fantasy world that the Golan duo create. The dreamlike images that the couple creates are often in complete contrast with the cruel reality.

On December 22, 2000, Omer Golan—who was a 20-year-old soldier, musician and poet at the time—was severely injured when a suicide bomber in the Jordan Valley held him in a deadly embrace. The terrorist was wearing seven kilos of explosions around his waist, but Omer survived. Only the attacker died. After a long rehabilitation period, Omer recovered almost completely from his wounds. He considers the attack and the period following the attack a rebirth, which is why the exhibition is called Re-Birth. In 2002, Omer Golan, who mostly wrote poetry before the attack, met his wife, Tal. The couple began painting and exhibiting their work together.

Whoever purchases an art piece of the Golan couple at the Barron’s Spirit & Art Gallery in the Scheldestraat in Amsterdam will be donating fifty percent of the purchase price to the Fund for Victims of Terror of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. In the Netherlands, the Collective Israel Action is partner of this organization.

Omer Golan wanted to give back to the fund as it had supported him during his rehabilitation. The idea to do this by means of paintings came up several months ago, when Omer and Tal Golan attended a ceremony in which scholarships were presented to children who had lost their father, mother or both parents as a result of terror. By now, the orphan department of the fund has granted more than two million dollars; and the general terror fund has gathered almost five million dollars, which has helped four thousand people.

In the meantime, Omer and Tal Golan live in Leiden. Omer has been accepted to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

Omer & Tal Golan: benefit exhibition ‘Re-Birth’ until Sunday 27 July between 11:00 am and 05:00 pm: Barron’s Spirit & Art Gallery, Scheldestraat 98, Amsterdam.