By Dean Poling
VALDOSTA — Always an enjoyable surprise discovering the works of Valdosta artist Stephen Lahr.
Even if you have known him for years or have followed his work even longer, it remains a discovery because a viewer never knows what facet of the versatile Lahr one might find.
He has created exquisite pieces based on cigar boxes. He is a talented sketcher and painter. He has an eye for photography. All of this along with his prestigious teaching career at Valdosta State University that has earned him local, regional, state and national distinction. He is also serving as president-elect of the Georgia Art Education Association.
Still, he finds time to create and exhibit his art. His latest show opened this weekend at Artists on Ashley in Downtown Valdosta. It is a collection of various aspects of his styles, views, and talents.
“As one can see when looking at the work in this exhibition, I enjoy working with a variety of media, approaches and techniques,” Lahr says in an artistic statement. “... Over the years, I have taken literally thousands of 35mm color slides and black-and-white photographs, which I intend to revisit and one day hope to exhibit those that have merit.”
His first passion remains painting in watercolor and acrylic.
“The subject matter is usually an interpretation of landscape,” Lahr says. “But I also enjoy constructing fantasy things and working with found objects, old postcards and photographs, magazine pictures, and appropriated images. Some of these efforts are in this exhibition.”
These constructions often form the foundation for a series of works, such as his past cigar-box series.
“For example, on vacation last summer, we traveled on Route 66 from Williams, Ariz., near Flagstaff west to Kingman,” he says. “Photographs from that trip are in this exhibition and are part of a series of works that also include watercolors and acrylics. The subject-matter deals with various parts of the trip to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.”
Visiting an exhibit by Stephen Lahr is always a journey worth taking with destinations that remain unknown until a viewer’s arrival.
GALLERY
Artist Stephen Lahr’s work on exhibit, Artists on Ashley, 203 N. Ashley St.
