Aron Packer, of Aron Packer Projects, brings together artist Hank Feeley and Leslie Hindman who crossed paths years ago working on an ad campaign for Dewar’s Scotch. Now working at the auction firm, Packer will be hosting a special exhibition for Hank Feeley at the west loop location of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. The show will be open to the public for 2 days only, June 3 and 4.

For 28 years (1965 – 1993) Hank Feeley worked for Leo Burnett, rising through the ranks with a classic story. After getting out of the Navy, he started with an entry-level job in the research department and eventually worked his way to Chief Executive Officer of Leo Burnett International. While at Leo Burnett, Feeley worked on a series of nationally driven print ads that featured up and coming personalities, such as Leslie Hindman.

After a satisfying career and early retirement from Leo Burnett, Feeley went to the School of the Art Institute for the BFA that he always wanted and studied with Chicago masters such as Ed Paschke, Dan Gustin and Robert Barnes. Packer started showing Feeley around 1999 and continues to show his work almost 20 years later. Now at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Packer remembers the time from Feeley’s career when he worked on the Dewar’s ad campaign. Making this connection, he will be hosting this special two-day exhibition at the auction house, which includes a cocktail reception on June 3 from 4 – 8pm and a gallery talk on June 4 at 2pm.

The work in Reflections finds Feeley in his signature non-sequitur mode. The paintings are lively and bright and have a collaged based visual approach involving anywhere from 5 to 15 different elements playing off one another. For example: A Dent in the Universe involves a stylized star studded night sky, over which a central image of a missionary hut stands on stilts in the water, with cartoon dash remnants of someone diving into the water. A shattering bottle lets out a tiny galaxy, while underneath a river of pumpkins meanders its way through the foreground of the painting, only to be partially obscured by the bare legs of a woman balancing a planter full of Kandinsky flowers on her feet.

“If Hank Feeley were not so strikingly original, I would say that he stands at the intersection of Magritte and Marvel Comics, but as it is, he has his own way of disorienting the viewer so we can see again, now with our perception refreshed.”

–Billy Collins (Poet Laureate of the United States)

“Hank Feeley’s work is batting 1000% with me.”
–Ed Paschke

About Henry J. Feeley, Jr. (American, b. 1940)
Feeley received a BA in Philosophy, 1963, from the College of Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.; and graduated Harvard Business School in 1976. In 1993 he enrolled at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1995. A retired Vice Chairman/CEO with Leo Burnett Company advertising agency, Feeley has also taught, at Roosevelt University, Chicago; and has been Artist in Residence, Lecturer and Member of the Board of Trustees of Oxbow School of the Arts, Michigan; and Visiting Artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Loyola Academy, Chicago; Oxbow School of the Arts; the University Club, Chicago; the Art Center, Quincy, Ill.; and Viridian Gallery, NYC. He is represented in Chicago by Aron Packer Projects; and shows in New York with the First Street Gallery.

About Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, one of the world’s foremost fine art auction houses, has been providing exceptional service and achieving record prices since 1982. With more salerooms in the United States than any other auction house, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers conducts over 60 auctions annually in categories such as fine jewelry and timepieces, contemporary art, 20th century design, rare books, furniture, decorative arts and more. The firm has salerooms and business offices in Palm Beach, Naples, Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago, Saint Louis and Scottsdale but serves a global client base through its position at the forefront of technology. The firm is also a founding partner of Bidsquare, a live auction platform formed by six leading auction houses, and owns a proprietary online bidding platform, LHLive, as well as LH Exchange, an e-commerce site specializing in high-end designer furniture and decorative arts.

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Tags: Aron Packer Projects, Chicago, Full Circle / Reflections, Hank Feeley, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, near west side