The Modbo and S.P.Q.R., The Arts Alley District, are delighted to present a new opening, “Boys vs. Girls,” on Friday, August 12th, from 5:30 until late. This exhibit will feature Trevor Thomas, Drew LiVigni, and Jeremy Grant in The Modbo and Jess Preble, Erin Jones, and Nina Peterson in S.P.Q.R. Remember to cast your vote for the winner of Boys v. Girls!
The Boys in The Modbo
Drew LiVigni is primarily self taught and has worked with many types of media through the years. He is currently working in digital/mixed media. His works are small narrative snapshots filled with nostalgia and whimsy. Drew lives and works in Colorado Springs, is married to artist Lindsay Hand, and they are expecting their first child.
In college, Jeremy Grant began to collect pieces of junk and, drawing on his past 15 years of experience in art classes, began to assemble those found objects into wall-hanging sculptures. This means of restoring and redeeming the throw-away artifacts of society inspired him and, in this union of concept and form, Jeremy found his artistic niche. Seven years later, after receiving Bachelor degrees in Illustration and Graphic Design from John Brown University, Jeremy continues his restorative sculpture work as he plays a mild-mannered graphic designer by day and a fearless fine-artist by night. He seeks to restore the good faith of his neighbors, friends, and anyone else willing to engage with contemporary art through speaking about art in a way that is inclusive and easy to understand. Jeremy Grant’s sculpture has been featured in Colorado galleries, public spaces and online.
Trevor Thomas is a representational painter and draftsman from Colorado Springs, CO. He is a recent graduate of Colorado College (2010) with a B.A. in fine art and is currently the apprentice to Eric Bransby on a mural commission for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center [projected to be completed in fall 2011]. Trevor is also represented as a collective member of the Modbo and SPQR in downtown Colorado Springs.
Trevor has a strong foundation in figurative drawing and painting. While at Colorado College, he devoted himself to studying the figure. This involved several study abroad programs, including a three monthfigure drawing intensive at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. Locally, Trevor has studied the figure with Bogdan Swider, Chris Alvarez, and Eric Bransby.
Since November 2010, Trevor has worked along side Eric Bransby on the Fine Arts Center Mural. During this time, Trevor has established a profound understanding of the figure and wall painting. Under Eric’s tutelage, Trevor is learning fresco painting practices and figure drawing intricacies. Upon completion of the mural, Trevor has aspirations to earn an MFA in painting.
The Girls at S.P.Q.R.
Nina Peterson, a member of The Modbo Collective, recently graduated from UCCS with a degree in Art History. She intends to pursue a graduate degree in Art History as well. Her current work attempts to identify and dismantle gender stereotypes by redefining traditional gender roles and reappropriating the female nude. The usage of two disparate mediums, paint and ball point pen, allows Nina to explore control in relation to both gender and artistic relationships. However, aesthetics are paramount to her finished work as she finds her subject matter – nude women or mutilated rabbit maxillae – to be beautiful. Nina spends many hours sunbathing in her studio as she works under the adoring gaze of her most supportive and fluffiest fan, Fat Cat Bobby.
Erin Jones, 20, is an emerging artist native to Colorado Springs. Her role in the community started in 2003 with the non-profit youth art organization, Futureself, where she dove into countless art mediums as a student, volunteer, assistant, and teacher. She gained success in high school with enrollment into AP and IB art classes, a paid internship at the Smokebrush Foundation of the Arts, and participation in many juried art exhibitions such as Wunderkind, Scholastics, and the Young Peoples Art Exhibitions. Since then, Erin has shifted her attention to a new-found love of oil painting. With a primary focus in portraiture and figurative studies, she is inspired by the opportunity to capture one’s story by depicting scenarios just outside of reality. Erin is eager to continue creating a body of work to show in galleries across the state and country.
Jess Preble, 23, is a native Colorado artist who has spent time studying fine art and painting independently in multiple cities in Colorado as well as in San Francisco. She currently attends Pikes Peak Community College in the Associates of Arts program. Jess has become integrated in the local artistic community recently in hopes of strengthening the presence of all forms of tactile, visual and sensory emotive expression. She is the newest member of The Modbo Collective. Jess works full time as a figure model for various art studios and galleries, as playing muse for another seems just as pertinent as finding them for herself. The juxtaposition of experience and personally subjective interpretation of provoked external influence has culminated in her current series of misfit portraits and cityscapes.