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Port Arthur native and beloved Lamar University instructor Steve Hodges saw beauty in the mundane, with a knack for blending the abstract with reality to create an esteemed collection of artwork.

Now, the late artist’s work will be on display and available for purchase when CoYo Gallery presents “Ephemeral Realities: The Art of Steve Hodges” this weekend.

The exclusive event begins with a reception at 5630 Gail Drive in Beaumont from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., July 12, and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on July 13.

The selection includes scores of Hodges’ work available at affordable prices. For his widow, Lisette Hodges Clanahan, the show is a way to honor her late husband’s legacy while fulfilling his last wish — spreading his artwork into the world.

Hodges grew up in a different era of Port Arthur. A serious artist from a young age, he spent time painting with local legend Janis Joplin, but also frequented the town’s whorehouses with friends just to play pool at the tables inside. 

“We could have moved other places, but he liked the mixtures of cultures down there,” Hodges Clanahan said. “Port Arthur was his place where he was from, where he was most comfortable.”

Asked about her late husband’s artistic stylings, Hodges’ widow said with a laugh that Steve would have likely refrained from answering the question so as not to be held to a singular idea. His vision as a figurative artist is evident in his work, though.

“He was always using what he considered the beauty of the figure,” Hodges Clanahan said. “He’d often put it in positions where there was a lot of ugliness so that your mind looks at something that was really not pretty, but then you take from it a beautiful form.”

Aside from the anatomical elements in Hodges’ art, other pieces challenge darker subject matter. Some works depict capital punishment, which Hodges staunchly opposed. Additionally, Hodges received a lung cancer diagnosis which eventually led to his passing. Thus, cigarette boxes are a recurring theme in his paintings.

While 14 years have elapsed since Hodges’ death, his legacy lives on in multiple facets. The students Hodges taught at Lamar University pass down many of his methods to the next generation, and his widow occasionally recognizes aspects of her late husband’s style in others’ work. 

As for the artwork Hodges himself dedicated his life to creating? It will take on a new life of its own, whether that be as the prized piece in a collector’s possession or hanging on a living room wall.