| |
 |
 |
 |
|
Krista Coltrin
(630)
293-2200 ext. 135
kcoltrin@westchicago.org |
City of West
Chicago
475 Main
Street
West Chicago,
Illinois 60185 |
|
|
|
|
Artist Lewis Achenbach Brings Graffiti Expressionism Style to
Gallery 200 in January with "Off the Golden Map" Exhibit
"Off the Golden Map" Opening Reception
Gallery 200, 200 Main Street, West Chicago
Friday, January 6, 2012
6:00 – 9:00 p.m. |
|
 |
| |
 |
|
|
| |
|
Although the subject is a matter of interpretation, artist Lewis Achenbach simply felt good about making the mixed media "Tachiagari moegara, Rising Cinders" on a discarded canvas he found in Greenwich Village, New York. |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
|
|
| |
|
Artist Lewis Achenbach began "Space is Dust", an acrylic on canvas, by making tree symbols across the surface and building graffiti scripts around them as a representation of the whimsical universe. |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
|
|
| |
|
"Minotaurus" was produced by artist Lewis Achenbach during his years as an animation production coordinator as part of a series of pastel on paper characters that are quickly drawn, then colored with labor. |
|
| |
|
West Chicago, Illinois: December 21, 2011 - Lewis Achenbach describes his style of painting as graffiti expressionism, a fusion of simplistic Asian Sumi painting layered with graffiti and traditional animation. His "Off the Golden Map" exhibit will be on display at Gallery 200, 200 Main Street, West Chicago, throughout the month of January 2012.
Achenbach's artistic style has grown and developed as he has traveled the country in search of his education and life experiences. He left home in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, at age eighteen and headed for "The Big Apple", where he attended New York University for a degree in animation. Achenbach said, "Leaving home for the big city at such a young age pushes you to become an individual."
Although he feels as comfortable in the woods as he does in the city, Achenbach admits that he now relates to Greenwich Village in New York City as his stomping grounds. According to him, Picasso was within reach at the street level and the experience has stayed with him.
His first job out of college was as production coordinator for Michael Sporn Studios, an independent animation studio known for turning storybooks into animated short films. Unlike computer animation, traditional animation creates movement with a series of hand-drawn animations that have minor variations between each image. "I sharpened my teeth and pencil in this studio," Achenbach said.
During this time, he had an opportunity to attend a variety of foreign cinema productions and found that he related to the Asian, and particularly Japanese, sensibility. He also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there are several wings devoted to Asian art.
He began teaching himself the art of Asian Sumi painting, where simple brush strokes have meaning and details are eliminated. He was also involved in street art at that time. "These cross influences keep animated entities in my work," said Achenbach.
He has since lived in other parts of the country, including California, where he worked as a muralist painting children's images in private homes and a return to Pennsylvania, where he worked with his father in the behavioral health field. His responsibility was to help people with different mental capacities using art as therapy. "It was amazing work and therapeutic for me as well because drawing is fun," said Achenbach.
Although Achenbach is currently a Naperville resident with an art studio in Wheaton, his ties to West Chicago began earlier in 2011 when he was asked to participate in artXposium, an art experience where national and international artists combine traditional media, interactive and multimedia installations. He has since become a member of Gallery 200, a local artists' co-op supported by the City of West Chicago.
Achenbach currently works as a graphic artist with The Free Radicals in Wheaton, Illinois, a position where hand drawn design meets digital media. He also creates faux finishes as a custom interior painter, a skill that he has carried with him as he has moved across the country. He hopes to take this one step further and create a business painting interior murals involving the inspiration of the children living in the home.
According to Achenbach, he strives to discard what he has learned and get back to what is simple and beautiful. He believes that people are drawn to the innocence of youth and should remember how to "dream big" as they did when they were children. Achenbach said, "Imagination is a muscle that must be used for it to grow."
A free Opening Reception on Friday, January 6, 2012, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Gallery 200, will include light refreshments and an opportunity to meet the artist. Musical performances by Mosaik at 6:30 p.m., followed by Youngest Son at 7:45 p.m., will take place in Gallery 200/STUDIO, accessed through the lower level entrance at 203 Turner Court. Regular Gallery hours are Thursday and Friday from 12:00 - 8:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Contact Gallery 200 at (630) 293-9550 or visit www.gallery200.org for more information.
Gallery 200 is a cultural initiative supported by the City of West Chicago and the West Chicago Cultural Arts Commission, and is one more reason West Chicago was named an Illinois Arts Friendly Community in 2007. Gallery 200 is open Thursday and Friday from 12:00 - 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information, including a complete list of current art classes, call (630) 293-9550 or visit www.gallery200.org.
|
| |
| |
|
|
### |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| CITY OF WEST
CHICAGO 475 Main Street, West Chicago, Illinois
60185 T - (630)
293-2200 www.westchicago.org |
| |
|
|
