Earlier this week, William Campbell Gallery (WCG) and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts (SAMFA) announced that the museum has acquired a work by Fort Worth-based artist Lee Albert Hill. The painting, The Wheel of Odysseus, was exhibited at WCG this spring as part of Mr. Hill’s solo exhibition, Semiosphere. SAMFA, which is the operational headquarters for the statewide organization CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, focuses on acquiring contemporary art and ceramics by Texas artists. Inspired by ancient ceramics in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the piece by Mr. Hill combines the SAMFA’s curatorial interests.

A photograph of an abstract painting on a circle canvas featuring black organic shapes on an orange background.

Glasstire

CAMIBAart:Perspectives on 2020

WIRING GOD'S OWN BOOMBOX

SIGNS - Glasstire

The Texas Wesleyan Rambler Campus News video interview

FORGED PAINT AT GALLERY 193 ANGELO STATE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1, 2017

Gallery 414
414 Templeton Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
Regular Hours: 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekends and by appointment
www.gallery414.org
817-336-6595

FORGED PAINT: CAREFULLY CRAFTED
THE PAINTINGS OF LEE HILL

Gallery 414 presents Forged Paint: Carefully Crafted featuring Fort Worth artist Lee Hill. Forged Paint: Carefully Crafted opens Saturday, on Fall Gallery Night, Saturday, September 10 with a reception for the artist from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. This exhibition runs through Sunday, October 8.

Local artist and architect Lee Hill will exhibit a body of work that includes paintings from the past three years at Gallery 414 from Saturday, September 9, to Saturday October 8, 2017. Opening reception will coincide with the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association’s Fall Gallery night. Working in mostly acrylic mediums, Hill’s paintings are made up of large scale drafted abstractions layered over bold color fields generated by various painting techniques including weathering, spray painting, pouring and staining.

Forged Paint: Carefully Crafted alludes to the definition of the word “forged” as a way to create work through intense focus or great effort. On exhibit will be recent paintings that point to a new direction in the use of color as a result of his recent studio research and visits to New York City.

Hill has described himself as an abstract painter firmly rooted within the neo-modernist movement and influenced by the universal processes involved in designing and building manmade structures across the natural and urban landscapes. His work is defined by both sharp and soft lines that extend from edge to edge on the canvas resulting in a language of mark making that symbolically alludes to man’s interaction with his environment in both historical and contemporary contexts.

The artist has acknowledged his roots in abstract hardedge painting particularly in the work of various contemporary working artists such Carmen Herrera, Carrie Moyer, Julie Mehretu and Caio Fonseca. Another influence is within the Manifesto of Canadian artist Andre Durand who writes that, “The Neo-Modern Manifesto sets out a programme for a revitalized approach to art founded on art history, discipline, and philosophy. Neo-Modernism sees art as an expression of the most sublime spiritual principles and interpretations of the universe and man’s existence, in line with the belief that the reality we live in is but a mirror of a deeper one that can only be reached through inspiration and imagination.”

In addition to his work as a painter, Hill is also a longtime Associate Principal at Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford Architects in Fort Worth, Texas. He has been the lead project architect on well-known local landmarks such as the TCU Brown Lupton University Union (BLUU), Arborlawn United Methodist Church, Temple Beth-el and project designer for the ongoing conversion of the historic Fort Worth Masonic Home School into the new home campus for ACH Child and Family Services.

Gallery 414 is made possible through the generosity of Razz Fiesler. Gallery 414 is located near Fort Worth’s museum district and is open weekends from 12:00 until 5:00 and by appointment only. Gallery and exhibition inquiries should be directed to Adele Krause by calling 817-821-5817, or via e-mail at adele@gallery414.org.

For a reproducible image, access files at www.gallery414.org/press/
Title: Bubble Forge, 2017
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Size: 48” x 48”

Upcoming Exhibitions
Anna Guillory and Stevie Spurgeon
October 21 through November 19

Rachel Black, Jamie Damon, Kate Stipp and Sam Swihart
December 2 through January 7

Bluestem grass is increasingly popular in landscapes because it furthers sustainability by tolerating drought and various soil conditions. It also has artistic potential as shown in an exhibit now on view and open to the public in the UNT Health Science Center’s Atrium Gallery.

Works by Lee-Albert Hill, who grew up in West Texas, are on exhibit through July, including pieces from his “Bluestem Series.” Work in the series is produced in several steps. Hill selects bluestem specimens for their potential to create linear impressions in acrylic paint. Grass and paint are then spread out on canvas and exposed to the weather. After weathering, the piece is brought into Hill’s Fort Worth studio, where he tapes off forms and patterns, then paints over them.

After living and working in the Connecticut/New York area for many years, Hill returned to Texas and lives in Fort Worth. In addition to his work as a painter, he is an architect and associate principal at Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford Architects. His work has been featured twice at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art near San Francisco and shown in curated group exhibitions in New Orleans, Houston, and Berlin, Germany.

The Atrium Gallery is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment on the first floor of the Carl E. Everett Building.

I am a fan of abstract art in general and interpretive abstract art in particular so "Bluestem" by Lee Albert Hill at LHUCA’s Christine DeVitt Exhibition Hall June 7 through July 27, 2013 is very appealing. Repeated visits are energizing. Linear and geometric spaces in acrylic paint, grass and paint overlaid on canvas and then exposed to ambient outdoor weather, reveal natural forms that are then over-painted. Bluestem is a native prairie grass on the southern high plains. The reductive contrasting patterns that evolve, express bold forms that stretch our imaginations. Hill is both architect and artist so one interpretation is looking for a visual transition from natural space to the built occupation of space produced by an architect.