HENSE

Featured Exhibition: HENSE: Prints and Paintings by Alex Brewer aka HENSE

Reception: Friday, June 7, 2013, 7:00-9:00pm at Sandler Hudson Gallery

Exhibition Dates: June 7 - August 31, 2013

Sandler Hudson Gallery is pleased to present HENSE : Prints and Paintings by Atlanta artist, Alex Brewer (aka, graffiti artist, HENSE). This body of work is inspired by Brewer’s recent commissioned large-scale exterior works in public spaces including; the Westside Arts District on Brady Avenue in Atlanta and his tallest work to date (measuring 137 feet tall and 170 feet wide) in Lima, Peru. Brewer has also been commissioned to do murals in; Atlanta, Washington D.C., Richmond, Orlando and Miami.

Brewer will exhibit a series of nine colorful, spontaneous, energetic mixed-media works on paper ranging in size from 32 to 96 inches. Brewer says about the act of painting, “I generally work on things in a very instinctive way. I paint, spray, or draw shapes and marks, then decide on what stays and goes. I try to never be afraid to paint over something or make changes, allowing breakthroughs to the other side. Sometimes the part you hate the most about a painting becomes the most layered and interesting area once you have destroyed it.”

Alex Brewer (aka HENSE) was commissioned by Michael Rooks, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The High Museum to install a large-scale wall drawing for the exhibition entitled, “Drawing Inside The Perimeter”, opening June 29th and continuing through September 22, 2013 . A recently purchased work on paper is also included in the exhibition.

Brewer, an Atlanta native, has been painting as a prolific graffiti street artist for twenty plus years. His work has been exhibited world-wide, from Atlanta to Tokyo, Taipei and Barcelona. This is Brewer’s third solo exhibition at Sandler Hudson Gallery.

An artist talk, a dialogue between Michael Rooks and Alex Brewer will take place during this exhibition. (Date to be announced).

MAXWELL COLETTE GALLERY

HENSE: New Paintings June 15, 2013 - July 20, 2013

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 15, from 6pm - 10pm.

Maxwell Colette Gallery is pleased to announce its next exhibition featuring public artist Alex HENSE Brewer. HENSE: New Paintings will debut a body of large-scale paintings on wood and smaller works on canvas from the internationally lauded muralist. The gallery will host an opening reception for the artist on Saturday, June 15 from 6pm - 10pm.

HENSE’s work is fluid and playful. It is a delicate interplay of geometric shapes, organic forms, abstract lines and frenetic squiggles executed in a furious effusion of saturated pastel hues. His massive, free-form paintings and epic public mural installations are not what you would expect from someone with HENSE’s Graffiti pedigree. His work is a natural extension of the radical visual legacy of Abstract Expressionism, but it is imbued with a palette purloined from some tropical paradise and a swagger that places it firmly in the current Post-Street Art age. HENSE says he is “combining the language and techniques of graffiti art with the formal language of painting in [the] studio.” and that his paintings “are invigorated by the quick pace and commentary of street culture.”

Alex HENSE Brewer’s nearly two decades working in the realm of public art grants and commissions has produced exterior works across the U.S, and abroad in Spain, France, Japan, Taiwan, Peru and Mexico. In April 2013 he completed a massive commissioned wall in the heart of Lima, Peru. In the fall of 2012 he garnered national attention for his treatment of the entire exterior of a historic church in Washington, D.C.. His work is held in numerous collections including The High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Complete information about HENSE may be found on hensethename.com.

Exhibition Location: 908 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL
Open hours: noon until 6pm, Wednesday through Saturday

Maxwell Colette Gallery | 908 N. Ashland Ave | Chicago, IL 60622
T: 312 496 3153 E: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

HENSE
Lima, Peru
2013

We just finished up a large exterior installation in Lima, Peru. This is my tallest work to date measuring 137 feet tall and 170 feet wide.
The project was organized by Morbo Gallery and funded by the ISIL Institute in MiraFlores, Lima.
I worked with my head assistant and a crew of 10 professional painters over the course of a month to complete the work. 

With all my exterior projects, I rarely use a preconceived sketch or concept to go off of. In this case, I presented a few rough concepts to the school to express my vision for the building. However, I always like to leave some room for creative freedom and spontaneity while working. This project was challenging because of the scale. Every shape and mark that we made on the wall had to be massive to be seen from a great distance. I also wanted to leave smaller,  details that would be seen by viewers close to the work. In this case most of my painting crew were local to Lima and spoke little to no English and I speak very little Spanish so it was challenging to communicate with them in the beginning of the project. After a month of working everyday with them we managed to be able to understand each other. I´m very grateful for that experience and I learned a lot from them and hope that they were inspired in some way by assisting in the process of the artwork.

We used over 200 gallons of exterior latex paint and a small amount of aerosol on this work. Most of the tools we used were rollers of various sizes, a paint sprayer, brushes, and homemade tools. One thing I feel is important when working on this scale is the improvisational use of tools to create the marks and shapes. In order to reach heights and lengths I had to attach brushes to extension poles to paint in hard to reach areas. We used strings and ropes to create circles and lines that needed to be accurate. However, most gestures and shapes were created freehand. I always push to keep a loose, painterly feel at a large scale. All my work is purely abstract and non representational.
These works are inspired by the architecture and context of the structure. In this case I wanted to use very bright colors that would pop against the sky and next to other near by architecture in Lima. This piece has many layers in it. some of which we covered completely. It’s important to me that the work has a very layered and built up look. I’m never afraid to destroy the image at any given time if it means I have to in order to achieve progression in the work.
I’m always wanting to challenge myself and the viewer in regards to painting and what that can be.

Photo Credits: Christian Rinke, Os Villavicencio, Gino Moreno, Jules Bay, Elard Robles and HENSE.

Special thanks to: Jules Bay, Taylor Means, Morbo Gallery, ISIL Institute, Luar Zeid, Panorama, Angel, Paul, Pedro, Alex, Miguel, Jaime, Mayo, William, Christian Rinke, Gino Moreno, Os Villavicencio, Carlos Benvenuto, Candice House, Elard Robles. For all the hard work and making this project come to fruition.

Commissioned full building murals for the new Fay Gold Gallery and Westside Cultural Arts Center in Midtown West Atlanta.

Huffington Post

“We can certainly appreciate the beauty in the classical aesthetic that so often characterizes sites of religious observance. But sometimes even traditional venues need a radical makeover.

Graffiti artist Hense did just that to a former church in Washington D.C.‘s up-and-coming arts district. The artist got to work with the help of a small crew, using rollers, brushes, spray paint, inks, acrylics, mops, enamels and paint sprayers to cover every inch of the edifice in popping hues. After several weeks, the white church was transformed into a rainbow splattered objet d’art. In an e-mail to the Huffington Post, Hense described the reaction to the extreme makeover as overwhelmingly positive, with a few exceptions. “There were a few people who thought of it as desecrating on the church,” he wrote. “Although once it was explained that it was a work in progress and had positive thought behind the gestures, colors and marks, they generally understood.”

Check out the church’s metamorphosis below and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.”