“Interior, the Studio” is the perfect piece to open Stephen Dinsmore’s “Selected Paintings” show at Modern Arts Midwest.

Hanging in the center of the wall  gallery visitors first see, the 4-by-4 painting is covered with slashes, drips and layers of paint, depicting his studio with a chair and easel reduced to lines and paintings seen leaning against the wall.

Filled with surface energy yet conveying the almost contemplative nature of the space, “Interior, the Studio” sets the tone for the rest of the show, an exhibition of impressively painted, highly varied works that emanate from that space.

A painter of mood and light, expressionist with restraint, Dinsmore turns the everyday into visions of color, shape and space that depart from photo-style representation of objects and places, creating evocative images that reflect back and forth between what is being depicted and the painting as a painting.

The landscape “Urban Yard, Viaduct,” for example, takes a Lincoln vista and charges it with the dynamic thrust of a strong gray ‘v’ that dominates the center of the image, then, looking upward, loosely painted utility poles ground it in reality.

The same kind of relationship between paint and image, surface and representation can be found in a suite of paintings of the Maine coast, most notably in the diptych “Life at Shore.”

Even still lifes come alive in Dinsmore’s work, with the dramatic use of color, hard lines and vivid brushstrokes nearly putting his oft-painted flowers in motion.

Motion comes through in a different sense as he captures a baseball pitcher midthrow in “The Hurler.” Baseball players are a favorite Dinsmore subject, and this one captures the essence of the game, starkly portraying him on the mound with flat colors below and behind.

Another welcome reprise is “Lone Barn,” a tiny landscape done on a cigar box, an unusual ground that he uses to great effect.

“Selected Paintings” contains work that isn’t automatically associated with Dinsmore. In a pair of paintings titled “The Drawing Class,” he looks at the figure, with an indistinctly rendered nude model dominating the canvases.

 Also figurative is a series he created from an old photograph of people eating in the dining car of a train. There are no features on the faces — Dinsmore’s not interested in portraiture or reproduction. But the paintings capture the romantic mood of the days-gone-by railway diner with their strong brushstrokes and warm color.

A pair of paintings suggest a change in direction for Dinsmore. “Wave,” by title a depiction of a wave crashing on a beach, is a study in greens and blues, lines and curves that, to my eye, is closer to abstraction than representation.

“Till Burnham Wood” takes that one step further, moving into pure abstraction, its stacks of reddish and brown rectangles bringing to mind Sean Scully, its drips and runs echoing the ’50s abstract expressionists.

But the drips and runs aren’t a departure for Dinsmore. A close look at “Interior, the Studio” finds a similar passage in the midst of the “floor” of the studio. Instead, they are evidence that Dinsmore is a true painter, working with his material and finding means of expression through multiple styles, techniques and subject matter.

“Selected Paintings” is an impressive body of work from a superb painter, one of the best shows in Lincoln this year and deserves to be seen. It’s on view at Modern Arts Midwest through the end of the year. Don’t miss it.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.