Collection: Hell for Leather Exhibition

Bitfactory Gallery presents Hell for Leather, March 18-April 7, 2022, a collection of paintings and mixed media works exploring the movement of line by Dan Drossman and Jeff Wenzel. The works showcase their Hell for Leather approach to the creative process—a term used to describe doing something as fast as possible. In this context it refers to their creative process of working without hesitation or restraint to let intuition guide way. This is reflected in the edgy, almost reckless feeling of the art. The public is invited to an Opening Reception on Friday, March 18, 6-9 pm at 851 Santa Fe Drive, and to visit during regular gallery hours Tuesdays through Saturdays 11:30 am to 3 pm and by appointment, for the run of the show. Other special hours include the First Friday Art Walk on the evening of April 1, 2022, 6-9 pm. Art may also be purchased online at www.bitfactory.net.

Wenzel’s work in this show spans a period of over 20 years.

“Through these years I've come to realize how important it is to let my intuition and my hand guide rather than always just only my head. I've learned that, for me, my normal way of thinking and decision-making only takes me as far as what I already know in my work. Then there comes a point when I must let it all go and just act without deliberation. That's not that easy to let yourself do. What happens often takes a direction that I would think will ruin the painting. But this is where it becomes interesting because here there is a different type of intelligence coming through.”

                                                                                                      - Jeff Wenzel

Born in Denver in 1959, Wenzel lived in Colorado, California, and Alaska as a youth, then returned to California for his postgraduate education. At the University of California at Berkeley, he pursued sculpture and painting, studying, and working as a teaching assistant with the renowned abstract expressionist sculptor, Peter Voulkos. He also studied drawing and painting with Elmer Bischoff and Joan Brown, both expressionist painters identified with the Bay Area figurative movement. In 1981, Wenzel earned a Master of Arts degree and two years later a Master of Fine Arts degree from UC Berkeley. He went on to teach pottery and ceramic sculpture at various arts institutions in the bay area. Upon returning to Denver in 1988, in addition to his work in clay, Wenzel began working in large-scale paintings using mixed materials on paper and wood. His work is exhibited and collected nationally.

Drossman considers himself to be a process-artist, also relying on intuition and feeling to guide him to the end-product rather than having a preconceived idea as to what the image will look like or what he wants it to become.

“I usually begin all of my works by making marks, feeling the push and pull of the strokes and the pressure of the line. The painting will eventually start to move in one direction, and I’ll derail it and take it in another direction and repeat until it takes a form that I’m satisfied with. The artwork leans more towards not only of feeling as opposed to intellect but of feeling more reliant on chance and the unknown. It’s both exciting and uncomfortable at the same time, which is where and how I like to be when creating.”

                                                                                                          - Dan Drossman

He has also recently been collaging old sketches, photographs, and paintings into the paintings with the intent of taking something from the past that may be insignificant or unliked and repurposing it into the present day so that becomes meaningful or reshapes the memory.

Drossman grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, received his BA from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, and holds an MFA from The School of Visual Arts in New York. He is represented by Ruler Art in New York City and his works have been exhibited at David Zwirner Gallery in NYC, Open Air Museum in Sardinia, Italy and many other solo and group exhibitions throughout New York, North Carolina, and Denver. He works out of a space in Bitfactory Studios on Santa Fe Drive