Just days before Mira Lehr passed away on January 24, the artist had aptly titled her new exhibition Nature’s Rallying Cry. The second part of this show’s title – Honoring Mira Lehr – was added after her passing. |
When Lehr gave her final blessing in early January on which paintings would be shown at the C. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, she was still making new artworks every day in her studio. During recent years, Lehr created new work at an even greater pace than ever before during her six decades of artmaking. |
Her passing was recognized worldwide, some of the many tributes published across the U.S. and internationally include: The New York Times; The Art Newspaper in London, Paris, Israel, China and Italy; on PBS Television; The Boston Globe; The San Francisco Chronicle; on MSN News across Latin America, and many more.
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In 1969, the visionary Buckminster Fuller selected Lehr as one of only two artists for his groundbreaking World Game Project to spearhead sustainability and nurture the planet ‒ it was a year before the very first Earth Day, and was the catalyst for Lehr’s inspiration to devote her art to the cause of nature.In December of 2022 during Art Basel Miami Beach, Lehr’s work was selected for three concurrent exhibitions for Miami Art Week. |
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Things That Change (Grids of Active Planetary Events), by Mira Lehr |
Working with imagery from the natural world, Lehr created layered abstract compositions with unconventional materials. The lush flora of her Miami Beach home/studio profoundly influenced Lehr’s aesthetic vocabulary. |
Her nature-based imagery encompassed painting, design, sculpture and video installations. Lehr’s processes included non-traditional media – she ignited and exploded fuses across her canvas with gunpowder and fire. The flames burned holes and left imprints on her paintings. |
She layered delicate Japanese paper, applied resin, dyes and welded steel. She described her use of explosives as tying into the theme of creation versus destruction, which to Lehr is integral to the cycles and beauty of nature. |
The art historian Irving Sandler described her use of imagery: “What makes Lehr’s work different is the specificity of her references to nature. I was trying to think of any other artist working in this tradition who did it quite as explicitly as Mira does, and I couldn’t come up with one.” |
