Maodo Lo, the lissome Columbia star attracting N.B.A. attention this season, snatched a brochure as he walked into the Susan Eley Fine Art gallery on the Upper West Side one recent afternoon.
“I like to understand the reasons and inspirations when I go see artwork,” he said, tugging his earbuds out from underneath a gray hoodie.
The gallery’s director, Susan Eisner Eley, approached, and within minutes, she was leading Lo on a tour of the salon-style showcase of exposed brick walls covered with vibrant, frenzied works: grays, violets, reds and blues.
“She’s a colorist,” Eley said of the artist.