A quiet farmhouse down a gravel road may be an unlikely place for an art gallery to spring up, but that’s just what happened late last month at the Larry Poppens’ farm in rural Lennox.
Local artist, Michael Mazourek, a 2010 graduate of Lennox High School and son of Ken and Julie, unveiled his first commissioned work that same evening for Poppens.
The Farmhouse Art Show was held March 27th and featured Mazourek’s nine framed pieces on the walls, along with drawings and photographs spread throughout the living room. Between 60-70 people came through that evening, and they held a second showing the following Tuesday.
The unveiling of the commissioned work was a special moment. Poppens first saw Mazourek’s previous work at the Turner County Fair in 2011. It was in 2012 that he asked him to complete a piece for him.
Mazourek said, “Larry Poppens hired me to create an artwork for him, but the content and medium were entirely up to me. However, I wanted to create a storyline that resonated with his passions. Through different conversations, it became obvious that Larry appreciated a time when people dressed formally for public events. The main image in this drawing depicts a photograph from 1913 of two men before their bicycle race from New York to San Francisco. The overlapping city scape in this image represents a photo of the New York City skyline in 1945. These two photographs are essential to this piece. The photographs represent the beginning and end of a time period between 1900s-1950s when formal wear was an unannounced necessity for public events in any big city. Men with little money or assets somehow still owned a suit, which can be a difficult concept to understand in present day.”
Poppens and Mazourek unwrapped the artwork that evening.
Poppens said, “Michael has a great deal of talent. It has been my pleasure to support him and his art.”
The Farmhouse Art Show was in fact Poppens’ idea.
Mazourek said, “When I finished the piece in 2017, Larry suggested that we put on a show in his house.”
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