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Current Exhibitions Future Exhibitions Back to Exhibitions )
Lance Letscher. Poem, 2002. Found paper and collage on Masonite, 10 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches. Courtesy of Conduit Gallery)
Lance Letscher, Devotional, 2004. Found paper collage on masonite, 16.875 x 14.875 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
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Lance Letscher, Rig, 2000. Found paper, collage, 7 3/4 x 9 inches. Courtesy of Jace Graf.
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Lance Letscher, White Lilly, 1998. Pencil, found paper, collage, 13 1/8 x 9 3/8 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
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Lance Letscher: Books and Parts of Books 1996–2004 January 13–March 6, 2005 
This exhibition is a mid-career retrospective of the Austin-based artist, Lance Letscher. Letscher started his professional career as a sculptor in the late 1980s after receiving his B.A. and M.F.A. from The University of Texas, Austin. His sculptures were miniature representational works in wood and marble that were meticulously executed. Similarly, the collage works brought together in this exhibition show painstaking care in piecing pieces of paper together, but with a new-found freedom that comes from the ease with which the artist is able to manipulate the medium on a two-dimensional surface. As the subtitle suggests, the artist uses various parts of books in his work—the heavier cover as well as lighter inside pages—and other found paper, such as handwritten recipes and manuscripts. The early works from the period represented in this exhibition consist of somber drawings made by the artist, which were pasted on to paper. In contrast, the more recent works exhibit an exuberant use of colorful material. Paralleling this development was the transition in the organizing principle of composition from lines to colors. Correspondingly, the subjects in his artwork shifted from images based on direct observation such as plants and landscapes to abstractions based upon geometric forms. Letscher wants his work to reach people who are not necessarily conversant in art, "everyday people—those are the people I want to impress." He explains, "I would like to make things that are mysteriously powerful. I'd like to make a non-conscious communication that people feel and can't put their fingers on." The artist succeeds in doing precisely that: the viewer, standing in front of his work, senses strongly the joy and the melancholy of the various figures that are subliminally recognizable, yet often elude his conscious grasp. Lance Letscher: Books and Parts of Books 1996 to 2004 was organized by the Galveston Arts Center. Funding for this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue has been provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Texas Commission on the Arts, The Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, The City of Galveston Park Board of Trustees through the Hotel/Motel Tax, An Anonymous Donor in Honor of Mary Frasher, The Berman Family Foundation, McMurtrey Gallery, Conduit Gallery, and the Members of the Galveston Arts Center. |