First Thursday Artists Reception

Michael T. Hensley | Abe Murley

Portland painter Michael T. Hensley calls himself a “street artist.” A clear picture emerges of someone splashing graffiti all over Portland’s buildings. While that may have been true at one point in his career, Hensley interweaves the gritty feel of the street with color overlays, symbols, scratches, and mixed media onto rectangular panels and canvases.

Seattle artist Abe Murley is difficult to pin down. His patchwork collage/paintings are sketchy but also documents, representational but also childlike, diaristic but also universal. Scraps of paper add form and texture to these “stories.” Figures cavort in parks and urban settings. Individuals drive through identifiable terrain; artists contemplate their status; musicians sit around strumming guitars; awkward-looking men shower together. Murley keeps an active sketchbook and develops larger works that are not far removed from their expressionistic beginnings.

www.lindahodgesgallery.com