Ben LaFever: Spirit Shadow
Curatorial Statement by Logan Dennison
“However different our experiences are, we are all ensnared by our physicality.” - Ben LaFever
Spirit Shadow is the first exhibition by emerging local artist Ben LaFever. This collection of figurative artwork recognizes the capacity of one’s personal pain within the bodily experience and beyond, contrasted with the enduring presence of positive and powerful partners.
Depictions of male figures are mostly self portraits, harshly
distorted, fragmented, and tortured - as in Rage. Female figures are often portraits of his partner presented as loving, graceful, and transcendent - as in the work named after her, Ellie as Madonna. All the figures, male and female and collectively and separately allow viewers to witness a process we all experience – emotions becoming embodied - through LaFever’s unique story. Exploring his own expressions of hope and despair, loneliness and selflessness, nostalgia and anticipation, LaFever reveals his personal, visceral encounters of these universal themes.
LaFever’s range of two dimensional media and artistic styles
reflects the dynamism of internal processing. While water-color and pen express his intense emotions quickly and fluidly, he uses acrylic paint or colored pencil to help him engage a more meditative and controlled state. For LaFever, this body of work represents the act of re-presenting his ephemeral experiences as weighted forms calling to be shared:
“My paintings are a means of telling secrets, of giving posterity to the shadows of my spirit that would otherwise be transient.” - Ben LaFever
- Logan Dennison
Spirit Shadow is the first exhibition by emerging local artist Ben LaFever. This collection of figurative artwork recognizes the capacity of one’s personal pain within the bodily experience and beyond, contrasted with the enduring presence of positive and powerful partners.
Depictions of male figures are mostly self portraits, harshly
distorted, fragmented, and tortured - as in Rage. Female figures are often portraits of his partner presented as loving, graceful, and transcendent - as in the work named after her, Ellie as Madonna. All the figures, male and female and collectively and separately allow viewers to witness a process we all experience – emotions becoming embodied - through LaFever’s unique story. Exploring his own expressions of hope and despair, loneliness and selflessness, nostalgia and anticipation, LaFever reveals his personal, visceral encounters of these universal themes.
LaFever’s range of two dimensional media and artistic styles
reflects the dynamism of internal processing. While water-color and pen express his intense emotions quickly and fluidly, he uses acrylic paint or colored pencil to help him engage a more meditative and controlled state. For LaFever, this body of work represents the act of re-presenting his ephemeral experiences as weighted forms calling to be shared:
“My paintings are a means of telling secrets, of giving posterity to the shadows of my spirit that would otherwise be transient.” - Ben LaFever
- Logan Dennison
Gallery of Images
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All Lexington Art League programs are made possible through the generous support of LexArts. LexArts allocation of $50,000 represents the largest single donation to the operations of the Lexington Art League.
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The Kentucky Arts Council, a state arts agency, provides operating support to the Lexington Art League with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Lexington Parks & Recreation.
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