2014 Season
The Subconscious Element
Jeff King & Reggie Leflore
On View
Oct 14–Nov 07, 2014
The Subconscious Element grew from a collaboration between local artists Jeff King + Reggie LeFlore drawing upon their inspirations and experiences to celebrate the hip hop aesthetic.
Jeff King is a life long Omaha resident. He is a self-taught artist interested in everything form writing and graffiti, to realistic portraiture. Influences include Cy Twombly, Chuck Close, Jean Michel Basquiat, amongst others. He has exhibited widely in Omaha including at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, RNG Gallery, and the Moving Gallery. Last year he won his second OEAA Award for Best 2-person show with Anthony Brown. Jeff lives in Omaha with his wife, Jennie, and their two sons, Levi and Owen.
Reggie LeFlore, born Reginald Adonis LeFlore II, is best described as an 'enriched bi-product' of the Omaha art culture, whose artistry spans across varying categories, including stenciling, cartooning and graphic design.
His early beginnings as an artist can be best summed up as a child constantly surrounded by those wanting to be athletes or doctors. While others played outside, Reggie stayed inside, subjecting himself to various video games, cartoons and comic books...completely unaware that this would foster an interest in the hidden lessons found in his era of 90's Pop Culture. This curiosity led him on a journey of self-discovery, where he learned as much as he could through the powers of intrigue and inspiration.
He's gone through some rocky paths, many of which involved issues with his former private art school, and a few hard lessons regarding his local art endeavors, but the experiences that Reggie gained through it all were rich, later adding even more fuel to his hunger of becoming such a creative force in the Omaha community. This same fuel allowed him an introduction to his love for Street Art and Graffiti, a culture that Reggie feels to be just as important to our society as the various art movements established beforehand. Currently, his focuses deal with the concepts and philosophies of these Street Art styles, and his plight to prove their relevance in art culture compared to other varying art forms of the past and present.