Artwork at NMAL 2023 Show, Santa Fe , NM
A funny thing happened on the way to the theater (or three priests enter a bar)…
Okay, well, not three priests, but three friends, and all three of them head off to see Simpatico, a Sam Shepard play, at the New Mexico Actors Lab after having a few drinks at an early dinner.
Now, one of those friends gets goaded into playing an out-of-tune stand-up piano quietly standing there against a back wall in the reception area of the Lab. This draws attention (because he is good) and lights up an otherwise quiet room. Soon, we are in conversation with one of the award-winning theater’s board members. I am enjoying what I always enjoy – building up all his talents as a musician (multi-instrumentalist), former lead singer for a band, a published poet, published writer, published journalist, an art hobbyist, a collector, an award-winning composer, an educator/administrator, and Parson (one of us is close enough to be a priest here, and he can marry people).
But he turns the tables on my anonymity (and I like being anonymous) as he flips the praise my way, saying I am a “real” artist (which means I starved a lot). The board member asks what everyone asks, and to which I usually have no answer, “What kind of art do you do?”
But I have a printed catalog of current work with me as I had come to Santa Fe earlier in the day to get some gallery advice from my favorite gallery owner, Charlotte Jackson. And so I hand over the catalog.
The next thing I am asked is if I want to exhibit for the October production of The Nether. And I say, “Yes.”
Jennifer Haley’s The Nether and Jeff LeFever’s Photographic Engrams opened on October 11 and closed on October 29. It was well recieved by all who attended.
These artworks travel to Los Angeles April 26th – 28th, 2024, for viewing and acquisition at the 2024 Los Angeles Parallax Art Fair. See you there!!
Santa Fe, NM 2023 Press Release
Stretching the Art of Photography to Dream-Like Worlds
Innovative artist and photographer Jeff LeFever opens his debut exhibit in Santa Fe at the New Mexico Actor’s Lab gallery through October 2023.
In preparation for Jennifer Haley’s play, The Nether, LeFever will showcase 16 photographic images. Nine images on view and available to acquire are represented as 24×36 inch signed and numbered limited edition prints (Archival Inks on Archival Paper). Seven 9×14 inch open edition Dancing Men direct-to-metal prints will also be available for viewing and acquisition.
LeFever, best known for his 1980s paintings (as seen in various art books and magazines), has turned his attention to challenging photographic conventions using techniques of multiple exposure photography that he likens to “engrams of memory.”
LeFever’s images address memory and interpretation, using a lens to capture and internalize casual and influential encounters; his work uses layers of images to recall a moment of time and proximity—a memory—mysterious as a dream, with unseen images and shifting interpretation appearing from more extended viewing. It’s hard to believe these are photographs.
Deemed “ground-breaking,” LeFever’s work stretches the senses and expands the notion of what photography is—and can become—using in-camera-only methods with no post-production collaging. The results are a very painterly and surreal form of photography. An excellent pairing for NMAL’s October play, The Nether.
Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, and Jeff LeFever’s Photographic Engrams open on October 11 and Closes on October 29. Call 505.395.6576 for tickets to the Nether at 1213 Parkway Drive, Suite B, Santa Fe, NM 87507, and view LeFever’s artwork during show hours.
The images above will be on view from October 11 to October 29 at the New Mexico Actor’s Lab
NOT INCLUDING THE JUMPING DANCING MEN: Signed and numbered limited edition prints are available to acquire. 24×36 inch prints on Epson Archival Cold Press paper are available through my online gallery store for $3300. unframed. Each print is limited to ONLY 15 per edition. If you have a particular number to request, contact me by email to see if it is available. To have the prints shipped in a plain black or white frame contact me (the frames are only an additional $450. with regular plexiglass, but shipping costs increase pending your address). Prices increase as the edition nears selling out. (purchase from the link provided or from the Limited Edition Prints link in the nav bar ~ to discuss framing options, email me ( lefever@lefever.com )
Signed and numbered, 15″x22″ 15 edition prints on Epson Archival Hot Press paper are also available for $1350. unframed – email me to acquire (these can’t be purchased in the gallery store). Each print is limited to ONLY 15 per edition. Prices increase as the edition nears selling out. Email ( lefever@lefever.com )
Also available in 15″x22″ and ready to hang is an open edition version of of the prints direct to metal printed with raised UV inks. these don’t require a frame and have a unique texture due to the raised inks. These are an open edition, have no print limit, are signed on the back, and are available for $1250 each, directly through emailing me: Email ( lefever@lefever.com ).
The Jumping/Dancing Men are only available as 9.3″x14″ open edition, direct print to metal using raised UV inks, signed on the back, ready to hang, only $600 and only available by contacting me by email ( lefever@lefever.com )
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Previous Exhibitions
revisit past online exhibitions
Halftone Lockdown 3 Third showing of Halftone Lockdown photos
Halftone Lockdown 2: Second showing of my multiple exposure photos