About WallSpace-lnk

Seen in Otoe County

Lincoln’s newest fine art gallery and salon

To celebrate 50 years of creative working and living in Lincoln I’ve decided to open a gallery space to showcase my work and the work of like minded artists. With new exhibitions opening monthly and special events, screenings, gallery talks and receptions, this will be a place to experience and engage with art, artists and ideas. And it’s got what every artist needs more of – WallSpace-LNK.com

Our hours are:

Friday, Saturday & Sunday from noon to 5 pm. First Friday evenings to 8pm and special exhibition receptions as announced

or by appointment. text 402 429 3684 or email mfarrell.1st@gmail.com

Our location:

We’re at 17th and Sumner. Parking out front. Next to Conner’s Antiques and Indigo Bridge Books.

News

  • “Erosion” is March’s offering.

    “Erosion,” an exhibition of museum-scale large format color photographs will be featured at an opening reception 5-8 p.m., First Friday, March 1, at WallSpace-LNK, 1624 S. 17th, Lincoln. On the cusp of the spring thaw, these images reveal places etched by the power of water across the Platte Basin and beyond in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. Craggy canyons, sandhills streams and barren badlands testify that “all that is built up will be worn down.” 

    Middle Fork of the Middle Loup River in Nebraska

    Photographer Michael Farrell observes, “I am drawn to those locations that make me think about the short time that we, as mere mortal humans, are allowed to exist here on earth and the eons of time that have passed since the water began flowing out of the mountains and through the canyons down to the plains, shaping that environment into what we see today. Almost nothing we do as humans will have the same power and effect that flowing water has. The planet is patient and water will outlast humanity.”

    Nokhu Crags at the Headwaters of the North Platte River in North Park Colorado

    The product of more than 30 years of exploration in the Platte Basin, these images visually capture water’s musical sound as it gurgles over rocks, roars down canyon cascades or silently shimmers in a lake at dawn. Some depict locations documented daily over the last 14 years via the Platte Basin Timelapse Project, which Farrell co-founded with Mike Forsberg. 

    Slot Falls on Jack Creek in Routt National Forest Colorado

    The big, colorful photographs  “reflect the variable paths of our minds and spirits as we make our way minute by minute toward the inevitable…” Farrell notes.

    On Jack Creek Routt National Forest Colorado

    “Erosion” is available for viewing and sales Fridays-Sundays, March 1-31, 12 – 5 p.m. and til 8 p.m. on First Friday. For appointment visits, text to 402-429-3684. More information at wallspace-lnk.com or on Facebook. Or visit https://plattebasintimelapse.com/erosion/

  • WYSIWYG – New Paintings for February

    “WYSIWYG: Recent Paintings,” an exhibition of new work by Michael Farrell will be featured at a First Friday reception February 2 from 5-8 p.m. at WallSpace-LNK, 1624 S. 17th Street, Lincoln. Regular gallery hours are Friday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. through February 25.

    A spirit of playfulness emanates from these new paintings that feature “universal” symbols rendered in unexpected colors and backgrounds. Common expressions are reframed in plays on words or puns in some of the works’ titles, adding to the sense of whimsy.  “Pair-o-Dice,” and “Phone Home” are among works on display. 

    Farrell’s work is inspired in part by the symbols and words his father and grandfather inscribed over decades on gravestones in the family monument business. Those mostly religious symbols expressed comforting messages about the deceased for generations to come. “Now,” Farrell noted, “electronic media have made many prosaic symbols ubiquitous, but how they’re presented has a big impact on what they mean and how they’re interpreted.”

    The bursts of color are offered as an antidote to winter’s gray. Viewers are invited to consider the artist’s idiosyncratic renditions of familiar symbology and determine for themselves if “what you see is what you get.”

    In addition to the First Friday opening, works are available for viewing and purchase Friday-Sunday 12-5 p.m., February 2 -25 or by appointment (text to 402-429-3684). More information at wallspace-lnk.com or Facebook.  

  • Close to Home

    A photographic installation of over 150 images

    Note our new hours: Friday through Sunday afternoons from 12 – 5 pm.

    “Close to Home,” an evocative collection of over 150 photographs made in Lincoln over a three-year period by Michael Farrell, will be featured from 5:00-8:00 p.m. First Friday, January 5 at WallSpace-LNK Fine Art Gallery, 1624 S. 17th Street, Lincoln. While the black and white images were made with “old school” vintage Rolleiflex film cameras, the installation reflects a new exhibition approach. Continuous bands of images circle around and through the entire gallery, creating an immersive experience. 

    This body of work is inspired by Eugene Atget, whose remarkable photographs of the neighborhoods and parks of Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century were discovered and brought to the art world’s attention only at the end of his life. American photographer Berenice Abbott rescued the views at the time of Atget’s death. His capture of quintessential Parisian scenes influence photographers to this day. 

    “I made these images,” Michael Farrell notes, “by walking the streets of my neighborhood, and later, many of the areas of Lincoln that contain the icons that give our city its visual identity.” 

    Close to Home is on exhibit Friday-Sunday, January 5 – January 28 from 12:00-5:00 p.m. with extended First Friday hours of 5:00-8:00 p.m. Affordable individual images from the collection are available for purchase.

  • Phoebe Little – Two Day Pop-up

    Dec 29 and 30 ONLY – Painting, drawings & prints

    • Like Salt on a Snail, 2023
    • copyright, Phoebe Little

    Lincoln native Phoebe Little, who recently earned her MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Art, is home for the holidays and is offering work for viewing and purchase

    12-8pm Friday, December 29 and 12-5 Saturday, December 30 ONLY.

    The artist will be featured at a “final Friday” reception from 5:00-8:00 p.m

    Phoebe notes that her recent paintings “explore an ambivalent relationship with pleasure and contemporary constructions of identity through consumer culture.” Based on still-life compositions and digital collage, her paintings ask, “When does pleasure bring us real fulfillment and when does it defy our expectations, leaving us disillusioned?”

    • Reclining Male Nude
    • copyright, Phoebe Little

    This pop-up show offers a never-before opportunity to purchase limited edition prints of Phoebe’s most recent paintings. A suite of early figure drawings and a large scale oil painting from the artist’s archive are also available. Phoebe earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and currently lives in New Haven Connecticut, where she is pursuing work for an exhibition in London in 2024.

    Take advantage of this rare chance to see (and acquire) the evolving work of this acclaimed rising talent.

     

  • “Tell it Slant” in December

    Paintings and drawings by the late David F. Routon

    Nov. 30 – Dec. 23
    First Friday reception Dec. 1, beginning at 5pm.

    The reception will be hosted by David’s family, joined by curator Bri Murphy, to share thoughts and reminiscences about David.

    The show includes a selection of paintings, drawings, and prints celebrating David’s unique imagery. His representations of the human figure evoke the admonition of poet Emily Dickinson to “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” Working from direct observation, photographs, old movie stills and more, Routon explored the emotive and psychological implications of conventional portraiture and personal imagery. Some images are fully rendered; others suggest varying degrees of completeness.

    A longtime professor of painting and drawing at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and three other universities, Routon influenced generations of artists, not only through his teaching, but through his own work.

    WallSpace-LNK gallerist Michael Farrell notes, “In addition to being a talented draftsman and painter, David Routon was a well-known and beloved figure on the arts scene in Lincoln. He was a figure at nearly every opening or visual arts event, offering enthusiastic and piquant commentary about the works on exhibit. This exhibition is a chance for art lovers to once again see and new viewers to appreciate David’s work, which  was last exhibited in 2017.”