Show Preview | RS Hanna Gallery: Beck, Beilfuss & Liston

Fredericksburg, TX
December 1-15

Dan Beck, Jessica’s Sister, oil, 12 x 16.

This story was featured in the December 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2013 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

This month RS Hanna Gallery presents Go Figure, a show featuring the works of Dan Beck, Kevin Beilfuss, and Bryce Cameron Liston. The three artists are considered masters of the figurative genre, and gallery owner Shannon Hanna says Go Figure is a tour de force of artists who “so beautifully illumine each other in their depth of talent and harmony of spirit.” The show opens on December 1; an artists’ reception is on Friday, December 6, from 6 to 8 p.m.

“We have a friendship and a mutual respect,” Beck says of his alliance with Beilfuss and Liston. “It’s inspiring to paint with artists you admire.” Beck plans seven or eight works for the show, including SISTERS and JESSICA’S SISTER. “In both of these paintings, I show my love and respect for the feminine mystique,” he says. “I tried to incorporate the figure into the environment, so the choices I made in the paintings are to emphasize that, a marriage or union of ideas.”

Kevin Beilfuss, Ophelia, oil, 24 x 36.

Beilfuss brings four paintings to the show, including RIVER’S EDGE and OPHELIA. Both paintings depict the same female figure in the landscape, but they were approached quite differently. RIVER’S EDGE is a loosely painted image of a woman at the edge of a forest stream. “The figure is almost hidden in the landscape,” Beilfuss says. “I would like to spend more time investigating having the figure blend in more with an abstract background.” In contrast, OPHELIA is more tightly painted. Based on the last moments of Shakespeare’s Hamlet heroine just before she drowns, the painting depicts her supine form afloat in the water. “It’s a classical subject, and I wanted to explore how to paint Ophelia without having her look dead,” he says.

Liston plans two or three “traditional, figurative paintings of feminine beauty” for this year’s show, including ALMOST SPRING, a piece depicting his 10-year-old daughter. “I’ve been painting her since she could walk,” he says. “I just love capturing her when she’s so natural and unaware that I’m there.

“Dan, Kevin, and I are very good friends,” Liston adds, “and I think our work shows quite well together. While we all have different styles, there is a cohesiveness that I feel shines through when our work is hung together.”
—Laura Rintala

contact information
830.307.3071
www.rshannagallery.com

Featured in the December 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art December 2013 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!