August's First Friday at The Modbo and SPQR: Lorelei Beckstrom's GLOW plus Works in Progress

The Modbo and S.P.Q.R. present August’s First Friday opening.  On Friday, August 7th, 2015 Lorelei Beckstrom’s new show, GLOW, opens at S.P.Q.R.  Meanwhile, at The Modbo, viewers will have the opportunity to see Works in Progress– various artists creating work right before your eyes during the Fridays of August.  Watch talented artists Christian Medovich, Cymon Padilla, Jean Cuchiaro, Jess Preble, Brett Andrus, and Elizabeth Selby work on pieces throughout the evening.  You will have the opportunity to bid on the works as they are created.  The shows will open from 5:30 until midnight on First Friday, and will remain up for viewing on subsequent Friday evenings through August, ending August 28th.  The Modbo and SPQR are located at 17b and 17c East Bijou, 80903.  More information at themodbo.com or by calling 633-4240 or emailing themodbo@gmail.com

Lorelei Beckstrom was born in Minnesota in 1967. After studying painting, sculpture, and graphic design for seven years, she relocated to Colorado in 1994, soon turning her focus exclusively to narrative figurative oil painting.  Beckstrom’s work has steadily evolved over the years­ beginning with paintings about the brain as machine­ canvases and installations with rooms for the viewers to enter filled with twisting colored wires and painted and etched plexiglass which depended on light to create shadow images on all surfaces­ virtual neural networks. These wires soon led her into painting a series of wire walkers,­ exploring the human qualities of risk ­taking, balance, and perseverance. As these performers were often shown high above crowds, newer paintings filled with staring audiences followed­ confronting the viewer with the question of who is watching who­, blurring the line between the observer and the observed. Beckstrom’s more recent paintings used stuffed animals and Greek mythology to tell the stories of human tragedy. Others involved the use of giant rabbit heads on her painting’s models, playfully looking at the subjects of identity and anonymity. They urged us to think about the masks we wear and what we choose to allow the world to see in a non­threatening way. This work ended with a series of Nordic folk tales told through humans in her handmade animal masks.

A new body of work is underway­ more highly ­rendered multiple figure panels that address the interplay in human relationships and how we relate to our environment. Glowing lights and objects, flying machines, alien plants, and scientific instruments convey a sense of mystery while communicating something familiar.

Beckstrom wants to leave her visual storytelling open for interpretation, not packaging particular emotions or messages. Her work inspires curiosity; she wants us to wonder­ and she leaves the door cracked just enough to peek in.

She has been dedicated to developing the arts culture in Colorado Springs, where she co-­owned the award ­winning Rubbish Gallery and currently works as gallery assistant/program director for the award ­winning Modbo Gallery/ModboCo School of Arts.  In 2012 she was voted by the Colorado Springs Gazette as ‘Best Artist on the Rise’. She was featured in a cover story by the Colorado Springs Independent and awarded a Bronze Medal for ‘Best Exhibition’ for her 2013 solo show ‘Fluff’. The Colorado Springs Business Journal included her in their feature ‘The Best Artists of the Region’ in 2014.

Beckstrom has exhibited prolifically in Colorado, along with galleries in Minneapolis and Santa Fe. Her work resides in collections in the United States, Mexico, and England. This fall her work will be exhibited in the “Springs Surreal’ show at the FAC and the “Beautiful Grotesque’ show at the Sangre de Cristo art center.  She is represented by The Modbo in Colorado Springs and the Carla Wright Gallery in Denver.

Her work can be seen at www.loreleibeckstrom.com