EXHIBITION DATES: JANUARY 2 – JANUARY 27, 2024
RECEPTION: THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 5PM – 8PM
The Painting Center proudly unveils Embodied Horizons an exhibition showcasing Kellie Lehr’s recent soft sculptural painting forms that defy easy categorization. In the words of Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, “Lehr’s folded dress-like wall-forms strike the unconscious first, as a structured vertical flare for the viewer’s imagination of feminine power on a mythic scale.” Lehr skillfully manipulates raw canvas as a malleable cloth, utilizing folding not only as a means of creation but also as a presentation method. Lehr explains, “The process of folding enables me to transform outsides and insides, change the form, make and break patterns, and enable memories of change and transformation to remain as color, line, and pattern.”
These forms transcend representation, serving as an imaginative exploration of indwelling, as described by Hartung: “There is an uncanny power in the dress-like forms, like angels or space travelers.” Embodied Horizons becomes a portal to the mystical, embodying a potent fusion of ritual, performance, and feminine energy. Lehr’s alchemical approach to space, color as memory, and the potential of painting to tap into the unconscious creates a transcendent experience, blurring the boundaries between the tangible and the spiritual.
Kellie Lehr, a visual artist based in Bentonville, AR, holds an MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design in Cambridge, MA, and a BSBA from the University of Arkansas. Her exceptional work has earned her a place in the 2023-25 Juried Registry of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., by the Arkansas Committee. Lehr has recently completed an Artist in Residence program at Foundation House in Greenwich, CT, and is set to attend the Château d’Orquevaux Artists & Writers Residency in Champagne-Ardenne, France this spring. Her work has graced exhibitions across the US, including Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, 21C Museum Hotel in Bentonville, AR, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art in Little Rock, AR, Ft. Smith Regional Arts Museum, AR, and the Lunder Arts Center, Cambridge, MA.
For more information on the artist, visit www.kellielehr.com.
