Small space, big dreams

By Ken Miller (contact)

Monday, April 5, 2010 | 2 p.m.

Beverly Poppe

Feline Friday: Laura Henkel with Francois Dubeau’s art.

Laura Henkel laughs, keenly aware of the irony. "Heavy Petting," the title of the latest show in her self-titled gallery in the Arts Factory, sounds like something you'd see at the Erotic Heritage Museum, which she curates. ("Heavy Petting" refers to cats, by the way, so shame on you!)

But that's the beauty of this gallery, which Henkel opened in September — it's an opportunity for many of the artists she works with at EHM to get their non-erotic-themed work shown in the Downtown arts scene. And this month, she's thrilled to be showing the art of Francois Dubeau, who recently found out Ikea will be selling prints of two of his works. ("He's bouncing off the moon," Henkel says.)

Dubeau starts all his black-and-white, mixed media works with a digital pen and adds deeper strokes with brushes. Laura Henkel Fine Art will be showing one of his original cat-themed works, as well as two other originals, and numerous limited editions throughout the 250-square-foot space, which consists of a desk, two chairs, a padded bench and an end table that can double as another seat. It's smallish gallery, to be sure, but it suits Henkel's goals perfectly.

"This is a great chance to show so many artists I love in a different light." She's also excited to see the arrival of the city's ACE rapid-transit system, which is expected to greatly increase visitor traffic. "I truly see wonderful things happening here," Henkel says. "Thanks to our phenomenal community leaders, I think it's about to take off."

— Originally published in Las Vegas Weekly