The Sheldon Gallery Presents ERIK SPEHN: TAPE DRAWINGS 6/4 -9/18

The Sheldon Art Galleries presents Erik Spehn: Tape Drawings, June 4 - September 18, 2010 in the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Gallery. Please join us for an opening reception on Friday, June 4 from 5 - 7 p.m.! Also opening on June 4: Scott Raffe: Circus Flora; Jay Wolke: Architecture of Resignation; and Wallace HernDon Smith Paintings. Gallery Hours are Tuesdays, Noon - 8 p.m.; Wednesdays - Fridays, Noon - 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission. Admission is free. For more information on the exhibition visit the galleries' website at www.thesheldon.org/galleries.asp. The exhibition is made possible by Nancy and Kenneth Kranzberg.

Since 2007, many of Erik Spehn's paintings have involved applying strips of masking tape to the surface of his canvases; then painting over them, peeling them off, and taping and repainting again and again. Over time, Spehn recognized that the discarded tape might offer a new avenue of formal investigation, so he began to make works on paper by applying the used tape to matboard. Each piece echoed the specific paintings on which he was working, but visually these "drawings" became a distinct and separate body of work. Exhibited for the first time at The Sheldon, the 27 intricate and beautiful drawings are exploratory works that the artist has made primarily for himself. Unlikely to be exhibited under other circumstances, Spehn chose this body of work to offer insight into his working process.

Erik Spehn was born in 1970 and received his B.F.A. in painting at the University of Michigan in 1992. He has been exhibiting regularly in St. Louis since 1995 and is included in the Permanent Collections of The Saint Louis Art Museum, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Daum Museum . Spehn is represented by Schmidt Contemporary Art, St. Louis.

The not-for-profit Sheldon Art Galleries exhibits works by local, national, and international artists in all media. Over 6,000 square feet of the galleries' spaces on the 2nd floor are permanently devoted to rotating exhibits of photography, architecture, jazz art and history, and children's art. A sculpture garden, seen from both the atrium lobby and the connecting glass bridge, features periodic rotations and installations, and the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Gallery on the lower level features art of all media. The Sheldon actively supports the work of St. Louis artists in all mediums and features a dedicated gallery with museum-quality exhibits by St. Louis artists, past and present.

Financial Assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Support is provided by the Regional Arts Commission and the Arts and Education Council.

 

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