| Christopher, Hultberg and Motley at Limited Addiction |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Monday, 24 November 2008 | |
New Works: Sean Christopher, Stella Im Hultberg and Lyle MotleyLimited Addiction GalleryNovember 29 – December 20, 2008Opening Reception: Saturday November 29, 6:00 – 9:00 pm Lyle Motley - Flashlight Limited Addiction Gallery 825 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204 303.893.4234 http://limitedaddictiongallery.com (November, 2009 – Denver, CO) - Limited Addiction Gallery is pleased to announce a group exhibition featuring new works by Sean Christopher, Stella Im Hultberg and Lyle Motley, three artists who are well regarded for their signature aesthetics and unique perspectives. The exhibition will be on view November 29 through December 20, 2008 with an opening reception being held on November 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. with the artists in attendance. With a delicate touch of rigorous, painstaking detail, Sean Christopher creates a vibrant world saturated with color and style. Christopher’s command of his oil, dry pigments, polymer, and gouache materials allows him to access a level of intricacy with his obscure figures and forms that intrigue the viewer physically, emotionally, and psychologically. His Neo-Traditionalist paintings infuse the canvas with a world inhabited by bizarre characters, yet beneath their peculiarities resides a familiarity, a connection to the outside world. With Sean Christopher, however, his extraordinary imagination cannot be limited to the boundaries of categories, classification, or even canvas. His creativity spills into the three-dimensional world with his sculptures that are equally striking in their composition, originality, and focus. Like Sean Christopher, Lyle Motley’s new oil works play with odd forms and shapes that add an alluring depth and complexity to his narratives. The winding, warped lines effortlessly create movement in his characters whose wide eyes invite us to bathe in their pools of innocence, contentment, and wonder. His process entails writing down lots of ideas and sketching. When he begins to paint, though, he tries “to let go of the sketch and any other planning [he] has done, in order to let the painting evolve again.” His uninhibited perspective of the world provides an air of honesty that is unfortunately overshadowed in today’s society. Working primarily in oils with the addition of a charcoal drawing, Lyle Motley responds to the chaos of these “wacky times” through his work, which simultaneously acts as a catharsis and challenges his technique and subject matter. Stella Im Hultberg also lets the art take control in her collection inspired by “the anatomy and physical tangibility of our human being.” Her images of the female form are beautifully translated on paper she has “ritualistically” stained with tea. Pencil sketches are filled in and brought to life with ink and watercolor under-paintings. A gel medium coats the paper before she begins to paint with oil. The result is a stunning exploration of emotion through the dual masculine and feminine features of her subjects that reveals the symbiotic relationship between strength and vulnerability within all of us. About Sean Christopher After receiving a B.F.A. in Illustration from the College of Art and Design in California and an M.F.A. in Drawing and Painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Sean Christopher turned in his Metro card and relocated to the West coast. Now living and working in Los Angeles, Christopher is constantly challenging himself and his craft. Always inventing, re-inventing, and evolving and never becoming complacent or formulaic. Sean Christopher has been actively exhibiting his work since 1994 in galleries in Los Angeles and New York. He has won multiple Best in Show awards from Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna, CA. About Lyle Motley Lyle is an oil painter, drawer, and tinkerer from the super fantastic, “cow-town” of Montrose, Colorado. A full time painter since 2006, his work has shown up in galleries from Los Angeles, to Chicago in the past couple years. With his beginnings in ceramics and sculpture, years writing and playing music with the Lyle and Sparkleface Band, commercial and editorial illustrations, murals in Flagstaff, AZ and Salida, CO, a love of the outdoors, aimless wanderings and adventures around the west, life in the city and the middle of nowhere, all the wackiness of being a dad, and a mind operating without enough sleep, it is not surprising that his work has become a unique blend drawing on many sources. Most importantly though, Lyle is completely obsessed with smearing paint on things, and when he is not smearing, he is fascinated by the light bouncing off the stuff that is all around him. About Stella Im Hultberg Growing up in China, Korea, Taiwan (and later the United States) Stella became heavily influenced by the traditions of Asian animation, particularly by the prominent style seen in magna comic. She is also inspired by music, film and books. Her work focuses on the organic relationship between people, the world that surrounds them and the world that lives inside of them. Hultberg’s work is a blend of old and new styles and techniques. Stella Im Hultberg studied Industrial Design at California State University. She has had recent solo shows at established galleries based in the West Coast. Her work has been published in numerous media outlets including Hi-Fructose, DPI Magazine (Taiwan), NY Arts Magazine in addition to Internet outlets such as Juxtapoz, Boing Boing, and LA Weekly. About Limited Addiction Gallery (Soon to be David B. Smith Gallery as of December, 2008) Gallery Director David B. Smith founded Limited Addiction Gallery in 2007. The focus of the gallery was to show the work of established and emergent contemporary art innovators from the United States and abroad. The Limited Addiction concept originated when a group of collectors created an art discussion forum in March of 2005. The rapid growth of the forum sparked the development of the gallery, which grew organically in line with the interests of the forum's international community. Limited Addiction Gallery created fully interactive online and gallery experiences with exclusive access to exhibitions and events. David B. Smith continues his vision of creating relevant dialogue and art accessibility to new and seasoned collectors. Curating exhibitions with an intelligent, and often challenging aesthetic, and bringing a range of contemporary art to the Denver art scene, David B. Smith has cultivated a strong regional, national, and international collector audience. In December, 2008 Limited Addiction Gallery will become the David B. Smith Gallery, with the gallery’s new identity unveiled in Miami, coinciding with their participating in Aqua Wynwood, December 4- 7, 2008 with a preview being held on December 3. The name change marks the beginning of a new era for the gallery where it will focus on strengthening its position in the contemporary art world and achieving international recognition for its represented artists. David B. Smith Gallery is committed to developing opportunities and platforms for represented artists to develop and expand their body of works and visibility. To broaden the international exposure of represented artists, the gallery has participated in art fairs since its inception, including satellite fairs in Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2007 and during Armory week in New York 2008. David B. Smith Gallery has received extensive media coverage including The Denver Post, The New York Times, Juxtapoz Magazine, and Complex Magazine. In August, 2008, The New York Times referred to the Gallery as offering “an exciting contrast of cutting edge works.”
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