The Modbo and S.P.Q.R., The Arts Alley District, proudly present a new opening on Friday, October 5th. Lindsay Hand will show her new body of work, “Speaking with the Dead” in The Modbo, while Phil Lear will have new work at S.P.Q.R. The opening reception is on Friday, October 5th, from 5:30 pm until midnight. The show will remain up until Friday, October 26th. The Modbo is located at 17B and 17C East Bijou, and may be reached at 633-4240, themodbo@gmail.com, or www.themodbo.com.
About the artists and
Lindsay Hand was born, and currently lives, in Colorado. She is primarily self-taught and has consistently exhibited her work since 2005 at various galleries throughout the state. Hand began painting with oils four years ago; the richness and depth of the medium has allowed her to create works that express a vision, a world of captured moments infused with nostalgia. A keen interest in working with paper has fueled her exploration of various print and book making techniques. As a strong believer in the powerful energy of creation, she had been a teacher, facilitator and volunteer with the nonprofit organization FutureSelf, which advocated transformation through the Arts to the youth of Colorado Springs. She was recently nominated for a Pikes Peak Arts Council Award for Excellence in the Arts: Artist of the Year.
Says Hand, “As I began work for this show, I noted the empathy I experienced while studying my source material. Exploring the phenomena of shared memories, I painted each piece from photo’s left behind in a strangers wake. My mental cobwebs began to clear as I walked through my own past while meditating on someone else’s. Hence, ‘Speaking with the Dead.’“
As a narrative figurative painter, Phil Lear’s mission is to create work that embodies a classical ideal, and speaks to the universal and timeless aspects of the human experience.
Murky grays, browns, and strokes of sky blue pile on the canvas to form a barrage of color that both intrigues and gratifies the eye in a fresh painterly realism. As a painter,
he is a story-teller. The often odd settings and remarkable characters of his work is are once inspiring and disquieting. “I’m not much of a landscape painter,” he says. “I paint
portraits.” Charming yet sinister, playful and mischievous, they are portraits not just of people, but of humanity.
Lear’s newest body of work intends to challenge viewers to examine themselves through the scenes and subjects in the paintings. Part urban myth, a sprinkling of Shakespeare, a bit of murder mystery, these pieces illuminate the darker side of the causes and effects of people behaving on impulse.