Photo Friday (vol. LXXXI) [touches of color edition]

My lovely wife Zahava is an artist.  She got her degree in Fine Arts, lives and breaths art, and is lucky enough to make her living from art. 

Me?  I like the old masters and a smattering of the impressionists... but I don't usually enjoy 'modern art'. 

This was often a cause of tension when Zahava dragged me kicking and screaming to the MoMa.  I usually got my revenge by stating loudly (and frequently) stuff like:

"Oh puleeeeeze!  You call that art?  I'm sorry, an unpainted white canvass with a black pencil line on it is not art.  And neither is a stool with a bicycle wheel mounted on it!  If I can do it... IT'S NOT ART!!!"

I would then pretend to be unaware of the angry looks from the nearby patrons of the arts... or my wife's furious glare.

However, I do have a soft spot for a certain type of modern art.

I love 'discovering' little bits of art in unlikely places.  Sometimes it can be a municipal or privately funded piece of sculpture.  Other times it is a bit of unauthorized artwork by a 'commando' artist (a great one of this genre that comes to mind is the famous Pink Lady of Malibu... this weekend being the 40th anniversary of the creation of this short-lived landmark). 

However, for me to like it, it must meet the following criteria:

1.  It must be unique (at least to me)
2.  It must be located where few people are likely to see it.

The sense of discovery I get when I stumble across such a piece feels a little like having a private showing, or even a gallery opening... just for me.

While driving near Tel Sheva (the archaeological excavations where ancient Beer Sheva is said to have been located), I came across such an understated, unique and remote work of art.   It was created by taking an existing part of the landscape  - In this case a high-tension wire tower - and adding small (relatively speaking) colored accents.

The effect is extremely powerful because of the muted colors that make up the nearby desert landscape... and by the dull gray frame of the metal tower.

I snapped shots from three different angles:

One

Two

Three

Best of all, there was no plaque... no credit given... no indication whatsoever who had created this work of art, or why.  It just... is.

I love that, and I thought you might too.

Shabbat Shalom.