The Modbo and S.P.Q.R. present June’s First Friday on June 3rd, 2016. The Modbo features a show celebrating The Modbo’s 7th birthday, featuring: Brett Andrus, Lorelei Beckstrom, Shannon Dunn, Lindsay Hand, Phil Lear, Christian Medovich, Cymon Padilla, Jess Preble, Troy De Rose, Doug Rouse, Elizabeth Selby, and Monique Viger. Meanwhile, in S.P.Q.R., it’s “THE HOLLOW MEN and the FINE ART of DETRACTION” by Heather Bingham and “Post-Partum”by Sarah Tenney. Both shows are open Fridays through June 24th. The opening reception on June 3rd will go from 5:30 pm til midnight. The Modbo and S.P.Q.R. are located at 17b and 17c East Bijou, 80903. More information at themodbo.com or by calling 633-4240 or emailing themodbo@gmail.com
The Modbo was founded in June of 2009 by Brett Andrus and Lauren Ciborowski. They opened a second neighboring gallery, S.P.Q.R., shortly thereafter. Now, hundreds of shows later, the galleries are proud to still be serving the artists, buyers, and arts scene of Colorado Springs. Andrus serves as the spaces’ creative director and curator, and teaches the many art classes held there while Ciborowski provides program management, administration, and PR functions. They are delighted to have stuck it out this long, and thank their many generous and supportive buyers and artists for their loyalty over the years.
About Heather Bingham:
In 2004 Heather completed her BA in Fine Art at UCCS, and since then she has shown art in Washington DC, Colorado Springs, and Denver. She has also painted murals for the residents of Cedar Springs Hospital, and enjoys painting portraits, commissions, and her own creations.
Now a full time artist, she and her husband Dustin reside in downtown Colorado Springs with two sweet old dogs, Mazzy and Tesla. They enjoy backpacking, snowshoeing, and a quiet life filled with family and friends. Heather is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to show art alongside her friend Sarah Tenney. Sarah was the first friend Heather made when she moved to Colorado in 1999 and has been an important part of her life ever since.
About “THE HOLLOW MEN and the FINE ART of DETRACTION”:
In the many years between college and her pursuit of a career in art, Heather worked in offices. She loved office work, but the interactions of people in workplaces disturbed her. What bothered her most was her own willing participation in the act of detraction. In the Catechism of the Catholic Faith the word detraction is used to describe the act of disclosing another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them. Very often she would find herself drawing empty suits next to her notes during meetings.
Although her styles are varied, there is a consistent theme in her artistic endeavors: to express emotional concepts and experiences through distortion and abstraction of figures and landscapes. Eventually, the suits found themselves standing in Heather’s landscapes, using tools of golf as their implements of destruction. The ridiculous scenes and the muted cool palette of the paintings are a deliberate choice to reflect the peaceful and rather silly attitude which she has adopted towards her past office life. The titles are references to various business colloquialisms and slang. By the final pieces, in which the figures are alone, the artist wishes to convey the joy and peace of escaping the oppressive atmosphere of detraction.
The title of the show is a reference to T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”
About Sarah Tenney:
A born dreamer, Sarah grew up inventing and illustrating stories. In high school her friend and fellow artist Heather Bingham introduced Sarah to the world of painting and a passion was born. Sarah completed her BFA in painting from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2006. Since then she has displayed in over 30 exhibits in galleries, alternative spaces, and art fairs in Colorado. Her work is in personal collections across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Sarah enjoys travel by train, her zoo membership, leisurely bike rides, and banter with her witty husband. They live in Denver with their precocious son and two personable cats.
About “Post-Partum”:
Through the artist’s life-changing experience as a new parent comes a deeply intimate series of paintings regarding awe, fear, bravery, and the sad prospect of pipe dreams. Metaphorical animals combined with raw self-portraiture and Front Range landscapes depict narratives about fighting depression, loss of confidence, and regaining inner strength. With light-handed application, the artist uses a warm, earthy palette to convey a thinness of skin and vulnerability. Apparent confrontations indicate a growing reality of personal fortitude and vitality, not aggression, fighting to make a subsequent postpartum experience different. (The artist is due with her second child on June 2, 2016.)