Erich Lehman
What sort of guy joins a group of artists who spend a month filling an empty, 19th-century factory space with a deliciously bizarre installation of original art and found objects?
Erich, ©2008 Garrick DorsettWelcome to the skateboard-cultured, labyrinthine world of Erich Lehman.
Erich, a Rochester, NY, designer and art curator, is one of five artists who came together in the fall of 2009 to form an art collective, the Sweet Meat Co. The circus-like installation of paintings, sculptures and found objects drew hundreds to its opening night reception.
The name Sweet Meat Co. was inspired by the Hungerford Building, where the installation took place. It once housed a manufacturer of "fruits and flavors," Erich says.
“Sweet meat is old slang for candy,” he says (although attendees may have noticed more of a Sweeney Todd flavor to the theme). “We just kind of meshed those two ideas together to come up with the name.”
Check out more of Erich's snapshots from the Sweet Meat Co. show on Flickr.While he’s proud to be a part of an artist collective, Erich is equally drawn to the role of curator.
He is an insatiable collector of all things creative, from fine art to toys, skateboards, rare shoes and type samples. And that fascination with what makes artists tick led to an epiphany about three years ago.
“Over lunch, one of my roommates asked what I’d do if I didn't have to worry about money,” he recalls. “Without hesitation, I said ‘start an art gallery here in town.’ He looked at me deadpan and then asked, ‘Well, why not? Why don't you do that?’”
Erich was ambivalent at first.
“Running a free-standing gallery in Rochester catering to the niches I love was shaky at best,” he says. “But later that night, back home, I said that somehow, by fall of 2008, I was going to have my first show.”
The artistic enterprise 1975 was born. And just as Erich vowed, 1975 (unrelated to Sweet Meat Co.) had its first show in the fall of 2008.
“I partnered with Lee Gray at Surface Salon in Rochester's South Wedge,” he says, "And from that point on, it was nothing but growth, frayed nerves, and not a lot of sleep the few weeks before openings.”
While at RIT, Erich went to work for Rochester skate shop Krudco, where he designed T-shirts, worked on their advertising, and helped produce video. This series of paintings by Erich, called “The Four,” was inspired by an earlier photo by Krudco photographer Jason Goodrich. “I thought it would look good as a series for our business cards,” Erich says, “so we shot one for each of the four main people at the time.” They are, from left, Chris Hogan-Roy, Alan Presutti, Aaron Costa, and Erich. The series now resides on a wall of Erich’s dining room. “It's one of the rare things of my own that I actually have hanging on any walls,” he says.That first show in 2008 led to more. Some at Surface Salon, others elsewhere. Like the soon-to-be opened exhibit, “The Worst is Yet to Come,” featuring the work of Don Pendleton and Mark Penxa, who are “two incredibly talented creatives from the skateboard world,” Erich says. The show begins Sept. 3 at Gallery Kunstler.
“One of my longtime goals has been to build something that had a strong enough following that I could start bringing in those original inspirational artists that I admired to upstate New York,” he says.
Erich has more exhibits planned for 1975, which will soon celebrate its second anniversary in business.
“This town is filled with so much raw talent and possibility,” he says.
With folks like Erich around, perhaps the best is yet to come.
See more: 1975 Gallery, Sweet Meat Co.
Say hi: erich@unprofessional.net, Erich on Twitter
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If you’re in the Rochester, NY, area September 3, “The Worst is Yet to Come,” featuring new works by Mark Penxa and Don Pendleton, debuts with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. at Gallery Kunstler in the Booksmart Studio at Village Gate Square, 250 North Goodman St. The exhibit runs through Sept. 25, 2010. See the show’s Facebook event page for details and to RSVP.