Posts Tagged ‘Altamira Fine Art’
In neighboring Sublette County, the town of Pinedale has big plans for 2012. According to a recent edition of the Sublette Examiner, “Main Street Pinedale”—a group of Pinedale citizens working to promote its downtown by “capitalizing on its uniqueness and by using historic preservation to generate economic and entrepreneurial growth”— will host a series of conferences that will work to raise Sublette’s cultural profile.
Events surrounding the conferences include “CLICK! A Weekend for Wyoming Visual Artists.” The Sublette Examiner writes:
“The name “CLICK!” suggests that thing that happens when you reconnect with colleagues and get inspired by new ideas, which occurs continually when Wyoming artists congregate,” said Sue Sommers, a local artist who helped organize the event, and is hoping to expand on the visibility and interconnectedness of Wyoming’s art community with those near and far – something she also tackled recently with the Pipeline Art Project….Like Pipeline, CLICK! is working alongside the Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) [sharing] a database of Wyoming artists and helps plan and partially fund the project.”
CLICK! takes place March 30 – April 1, 2012 at the Sublette County Libray, Pinedale. More registration info will be available soon. To read the Examiner’s full article, “click” here.
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In case you live in a cave–and the only peeps I know doin’ that are Bears 399 & 610–you know wildlife painter Amy Ringholz is Jackson’s 2012 Fall Arts Festival (FAF) poster artist. At 34, Ringholz is the youngest FAF artist to date.
Her winning painting, “Dreamers Don’t Sleep,” a 72 x 60″ ink and oil on canvas, will be showcased in the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s lobby January 22 – March 23, 2012. A wonderous portrait of the region’s wildlife, its magnificent Teton Range, a sparkling night sky, the painting also includes 25 painted flowers, to in honor of NMWA’s 25th anniversary. The painting is set to be unveiled at the museum Sunday, January 22, at 3:00 pm
Inspired by Fritz Scholder and Egon Schiele, Ringholz is a contemporary painter—the first contemporary FAF artist in over a decade. As this year’s Festival artist, she joins some of the West’s most notable working artists: Russell Chatham, Bill Schenck, Donna Howell-Sickles and 2011′s Dwayne Harty.
Locally, Ringholz is represented by Altamira Fine Art. Her work has been exhibited at NMWA, the Rockwell Museum of Western Art and Desert Caballeros Museum. She’s been featured in Southwest Art, Western Art & Architecture, and Western Art Collector magazines.
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Altamira Fine Art also represents 2009′s Fall Arts Festival poster artist R. Tom Gilleon. Altamira has confirmed that prices for Gilleon’s works will “increase significantly” as of May 1, 2012.
Gilleon has a major museum exhibition January 28 – May 27, 2012, at the Booth Western Art Museum. He is planning a one man show at Altamira in July. For more information, contact Altamira at 307.739.4700. www.altamiraart.com
Sometimes it all boils down to the boat.
Now on exhibition at the Tayloe Piggott Gallery, artist Kathryn Lynch’s River Tugs is an opus to the painter’s surroundings, and her naive, folk-like painting style is refreshing. It’s cool to have these paintings of tugboats and other vessels in Jackson, because they’re subject matter not often offered up in our mountain town. Lynch leaves out nautical details and concentrates on each boat’s essence—for her, these tugs are “symbols of the ongoing solitary traveler in each of us.” The theme is one we’ve picked up on in the most recent Piggott gallery shows, and these works encourage us to give pause—and that’s a good thing. No rushing. Lynch’s tonal, broad strokes, rendered in grays, greens, orange and blues, suggest play even as they suggest a certain somber observation of our collective psyche.
As children, pushing our Fisher Price tugboats around and around in the bath made the prospect of approaching bedtime much more welcome. Splashing play, followed by a dive under the blankets and dream time.
Showing concurrently at Tayloe Piggott is Nicole Charbonnet’s body of new works, Wild Things. Charbonnet’s layered, fresco-like works “serve as a metaphor for the phenomenon of recollection,” and portray animals found in the wild and iconic wild West horses and cowboy themes. Charbonnet also explores our own perceptions of self through non-human imagery; her work expresses a longing—and also a reverence—for days gone by.
She sees in her process of “erasing” the paint and overlaying additional layers something that both celebrates and criticizes the values portrayed by her subjects. “I’m raising questions about their current viability in a changed world. I make them look old and tired, though still beautiful, to ask if it’s time to relegate them to memory.”
A New Orleans native, Charbonnet says her home city greatly influences her work. “If you watch New Orleans, you see everywhere the effects of the process of time on surfaces,” she says. adding “That’s true of every place, every person.” The artist builds up her paintings with layers of textures, images, words, fabrics and collaged papers from all manner of sources. Says Charbonnet,“Nothing is ever completely gone, so even if you don’t hold a conscious memory of something, it forms the fabric and texture of who you are. I try to re-create the process your mind goes through in becoming what it is. You see something, and it reminds you of something else, another context, another feeling, even while the original image remains.”
River Tugs and Wild Things remain on exhbition through February 7, 2012. www.tayloepiggottgallery.com
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Trailside Galleries annual Holiday Miniatures Show opens with a gallery reception on Thursday, December 29, 5-8:00 pm. The gallery is excited to début “exquisite” new miniature paintings from most of the gallery’s roster of
artists. The gallery will feature new works by such noted Western artists as Kyle Sims, Dan Smith, Adam Smith, Joseph Sulkowski, Guy Coheleach, Robert Duncan, Nicholas Coleman, David Mayer, and many others.
The show’s opening takes place in conjunction with that evening’s downtown Jackson Holiday ArtWalk. While you are there, venture upstairs to see what’s new at the Jackson Hole Art Auction offices; Trailside produces the annual Fall Arts Festival event in conjunction with the Gerald Peters Gallery. For more information, phone 307-733-3186. www.trailsidegalleries.com …
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Thursday, December 22, wildlife artist Mary Roberson gives an artist’s demonstration at Altamira Fine Art, 3-5:00 pm. An artist’s conversation, “My Sketch Book,” will be presented by Roberson at 6:00 pm.
Altamira takes its name from Spain’s famous Upper Paleolithic cave paintings of wild beasts. Of all Altamira’s artists, Roberson is most connected to that wild spirit, and inner knowledge that animals inform us.
Jackson artist Travis Walker (yes, Teton Art Lab’s and Factory Studios’ Travis Walker!) is the next National Museum of Wildlife (NMWA) Art Lanford Monroe Memorial Artist-in-Residence! I love this.
Friday, August 5, 10:00 am-2:00 pm, Walker will demonstrate his painting techniques and make some fun art at the Museum, setting up in the Museum’s expanisive lobby area, across from the admissions desk. From 2:30-3:00 pm, spend time with Walker as he leads a tour of the Museum’s Rungius Drypoints exhibit.
Walker is a satellite, zooming in and out of our landscapes, freezing vast spaces and solitary formations. We’re light years away from a moment just
captured. Flaxen parachutes float forever. Still purple evening shadows never give way to night. These landscapes are our ideal; they’re uninhabited, but histories are embedded. Deserted cabins hold the energy and sadness of generations. Blank windows and headlights, eyes of the universe. Beneath Walker’s surfaces is an extraterrestrial glow he never quite paints down, a light peeking out from behind closed doors.
Walker has moved his studio space into town. He’s painting his giant trailer paintings upstairs from Jackson eatery E Leaven. And he’s the artist-of-choice for Jackson’s newest “Glamping” grounds, Fireside Resort. For information, phone (307) 732-5438.
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Altamira Fine Art winds up its summer show series with two “Best of the West” artists—perpetual cowgirl Donna Howell-Sickles and iconic contemporary cowboy artist Duke Beardsley. Open Range is on exhibit August 2-15, with an artists’ reception on Thursday, August 4, 6-8 pm.
Howell-Sickles’ heroic cowgirl images were among the first contemporary Western Art works to catch my eye. What gal wouldn’t want to feel the way her Cowgirl does? Howell-Sickles looks a lot like her muse, a figure inspired by the image on a c. 1935 postcard. “Greetings from a Real Cowgirl from the Ole Southwest,” said the card, which depicted a cowgirl on her horse.
“The image spoke to me and I had no idea why,” says Howell-Sickles. “I surrendered to the attraction, and as I used the Cowgirl in my art I slowly filled in the blanks about my fascination with the imagery.” All manner of Western critter are in love with this Cowgirl, and she returns the affection. Paintings are banners of zestful primary color; this Cowgirl is mythical, often encircled by a Resistol’s round white brim.
I’ll have what she’s having!
Beardsley “has been drawing and painting images of the American West most of his life,” says the gallery. “Duke’s work blends modern
artistic elements with the traditional icons of the west. The result has made him a consistently popular favorite among fans of contemporary western art.” Iconic and romantic, Beardsley’s contemporary paintings of cowboys and their horses harken back to the West’s earliest pride-of-place and sense of purpose. These guys are independent and strong; so are their horses. Trust them, ride with them.
Beardsley also paints landscapes. Check them out. Beautiful.
A new group in town, Global Arts Corps, inaugurates its Jackson Hole annual Summer Institute with an Opening Conference July 8-9, 2011. Perceptual Change: Alternatives for Conflict Resolution is billed as a “conversation between Scientists, Artists, Ex-Combatants, Educators and Activists.” Such a diverse roster of speakers ideally will provide stimulating discussion. Conference events take place at Jackson’s Center for the Arts.
The conference will cover topics ranging from “Empathy, Neurology and Comedy” to “Truth, Uncertainty Principles and Parody” to “Ensemble Phenomena: Unpacking Clichés.” With conflict resolution as its umbrella theme, it will be interesting to see how the conference will attack that theme. Every possible personality and interpretive medium are lined up: ex-combatants representing Northern Ireland’s conflicts, performing artists, journalists, clinical psychologists…the event will be moderated by the BBC’s William Crawley.
Breaking down assumptions that inevitably crop up during conflict is an art form. A key to resolving any issue is to address the “quiet” topics people find most difficult to air. Quell reactivity, and you’ve got a platform for
intimacy. I’m not the problem, and neither are you. The problem is the problem. Most arguments are not about the “surface” subject, they are about other issues between two parties that have not been properly addressed. Resolving conflict is largely about rational comprehension of issues at hand.
What is Global Arts Corps? Babs Case is the creative inspiration behind the new initiative. As Dancers’ Workshop’s executive director, her work ranks amongst Jackson’s most consistent and successful. Few non-profit leaders are more admired, and rightfully so. Global Arts Corps believes that “…the population in Jackson is one with the interests, experiences, and resources to actively participate in our discussion and to affect a significant difference in the world beyond our small valley.”
Lecture topics could provide more specifics about the meat and intent of this conference.
What significant differences might this gathering make to the world? What level of conflict will this workshop address? We are not culturally diverse, and we are relatively comfortable. Many of us have tried living out of the valley, only to return. We are a gated community. Who will 
attend? We have many world leaders in our midst—business, political and academic titans. Will we learn how to move into a larger understanding of the complexities in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan or South Africa? Will we be trained to lobby for legislation with greater finesse? Generate new ideas on combating poverty and predjudice? Discuss immigration or the tensions that arise when we speak about cultural differences? Get a grip on conflicting global economic forces?
Man, I dislike people who don’t like to resolve conflict! They make me want to punch ‘em out!
This is a free event; it cannot have been free to produce. May it reap great rewards.
For more information about Global Arts Corps’ Summer Institute, visit www.globalartscorps.org/summer-institute.html, or call 307.733.6398.
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The Street ART & Social Justice Workshop takes place July 8 & 9, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm each day, at the Center for the Arts. Attendees can help design and paint a community mural on the walls of the the Garaman underpass. Get your “Street art”
techniques down—techniques will taught and utilized. Cultural diversity is the theme and students can become official ambassadors of the pedestrian corridor. Famed street artists Judy Baca, JR, Bansky and others will be reviewed. Local artists will speak and demonstrate: Ricki Arno, Ryan Heyworth, Mike Tierney and Wendell Field are on the list.
A donation of $20 to cover supplies will be charged; space is limited and registration is required. Jackson Public Art Initiative in charge. Info, details: 307.413.1474
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“John Nieto, universally recognized as an American Master, continually defines himself within the wide parameters of his trademark brand of expressionism. Nieto, and one name says it all, transcends mere representation with sensitivity and sensibility, utilizing an intrepid stature unequaled by any imitator.” - Dean Munn, Altamira Fine Art
What better way to greet Independence Week than by honoring one of America’s great painters, John Nieto? A new Nieto exhibition, American Icon, will be on display July 1-14 at Altamira Fine Art, with an artist’s reception on Saturday, July 2, 2:00-4:00 pm.
Altamira Director Mark D. Tarrant has remarked that “…the gallery is privileged to represent Nieto….Nieto is widely regarded as one of America’s most accomplished, dynamic and exciting contemporary artists.” Tarrant points out that Nieto’s work concentrates on themes that transcend mere representation. The artist’s intense primary colors and bold use of paint “create both dimension and character on the canvas. “He is truly an American master,” Tarrant affirms.
Nieto’s Fauvist style of assembling electric colors reflects deep knowledge and emotion. The artist’s lineage includes Hispanic and American Indian parents, and NIeto’s family tree is documented back
300 years. His potent paintings are their own documentaries. They are commentaries on a people, on animal and Native American spirits, on landscape and history.
“A species of hope resides in the possibility of seeing one thing, one phenomenon or essence, so clearly and fully that the light of its understanding illuminates the rest of life,” writes Santa Fe author and scholar William deBuys. John Nieto’s paintings are, at once, hope and essence. www.altamiraart.com 307.739.4700
Saturday, June 18, 2011, the doors at Factory Studios open at 6:30 p.m. sharp. Doors will close at 7:30 p.m. and Art+Cloth+Street kicks off. If you show after 7:30, you don’t get in. The show is a fundraiser for the Factory Studios and tickets are $75 for front row seats and a limited edition Teton Art Lab print & four drink/raffle tokens; $20 for standing room and one token. Tickets are on sale at Valley Bookstore, Shades Café and via Factory Studios.
An “evening of art and fashion,” the show features exciting new work from three of Jackson’s most creative emerging clothing designers, Abbie Miller, Calla Grimes, and Owen Ashley.” Local arts specialists Lyndsay McCandless and Suzanne Morlock will discuss–perhaps debate–the intersection of clothing, art, and fashion. A runway show follows.
Abbie Miller/A.M. Renegade : “I’m working with the idea of geometry instead of drape,” she said. “I always like to see how far I can tip everything to the stage of bad proportion or ugliness, and then pull it back to a point where its flattering on the body. I like a play between natural and urban, earth tones and synthetic colors. It has to do with my fascination with cities and my weird romance with construction sites mixed with the experience of living here…” www.abbiesumiller.com
Calla Grimes: “My approach to designing clothing starts really with my own desire to wear easy everyday clothing that features the body’s best assets,” Grimes said. “I love to feel that I am in a wonderful piece of clothing that can be worn day into night, with a very strong element of the feminine. I use linen, linen blends, wool jerseys and fine knits, and silks of every kind.” callajacobson@gmail.com
Owen Ashley/Ashelter: Owen Ashley is a Jackson native and a founding designer for Anomoly Farm. His own label, Orson Ashelter, features functional outdoor-inspired fashion. “You can wear all of it outside and it won’t get ruined,” he said. “If it is meant to keep you warm it will; if it is supposed to keep you cool it will.” Ashley is currently working with shotgun-perforated vinyl faux leather, reclaimed from the Jackson Hole Airport. owen@anomalyfarm.com
www.factorystudios.org. Contact: Abbie Miller, abbgrab@gmail.com or 307-760-5035
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“The landscape is the tangible connection between man and God. It is a very humbling task—trying to paint the unseen qualities of a landscape as well as what is seen.” – Glenn Dean
Altamira Fine Art presents Bill Schenck, Glenn Dean and Logan Hagege in a new show, Earth & Sky, opening Thursday, June 16, with an artists’ reception from 5-8pm. Works remain on exhibit through June 26.
Schenck is the West’s Roy Lichtenstein. A bold, flattened pop-art style is Schenck’s hallmark. A former Jackson Hole resident, the artist now
lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His work reflects his environs and their people. In his early paintings, a sense of ‘makin’ a bit of fun’ of Western cowboys and cowgirls was common. Though Schenck continues to paint in a bright comic book style, a new reverence for indigenous peoples is evident. Native Americans are depicted in softer romantic hues, horses are purple spirits set against vast Southwestern deserts. “His work is characterized by hot colors, surreal juxtapositions and patterning which explore clashes between wilderness and civilization, the individual and community, nature and culture, freedom and restriction,” notes the gallery.
Hagege was born in 1980; he’s a mere 31 years old. A biographical profile describes Logan as being influenced by diverse past masters: Gustav Klimpt, N.C. Wyeth, T.W. Dewing and
Maynard Dixon. In Hagege’s works I see Klimpt’s sensuality of line; N.C. Wyeth’s dramatic, historic compositions; Dewing’s proud, emblematic portraits; and Dixon’s electrifying Southwestern vistas. I can’t help thinking that German painter Hans Holbein (1497-1543), the greatest portraitist of his day, has cast his spirit into Hagege’s paintings.
Dean is a landscapist. Maynard Dixon’s powerful influence reappears in Dean’s glowing Southwest mesas and endless skies. Clouds billow & morph, pulling us toward Heaven. Ranch hands and cowboys are tiny figures passing through great canyons and deserts. Nature is dominant. Western landscape painters of the early 1900′s “…emphasized the importance of seeing the color of light combined with interesting compositions and seemingly effortless designs, while carefully observing the simple and basic characteristics of a specific location,” says the artist. “It still feels like I’m at a magic show when I see work by those artists.”
Magic runs through it; and by “it,” I mean this show. www.altamiraart.com
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Saturday, June 18, is “Saturday U” day at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Two presentations to note:
9-10 a.m. — “The Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and the Modernization of American Culture, 1848-1890,” presented by Jeff Means, history assistant professor.
10:15-11:15 a.m. — “Public Art and Community: Building Partnerships through Art,” presented by Susan Moldenhauer, UW Art Museum director and chief curator. Why is public art important, and what can it do for a community? Moldenhauer discusses how the program “Sculpture, A Wyoming Invitational” was created and implemented.
For more details, or to register for college credit or Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) credit, call Susan Thulin, CWC outreach coordinator, (307) 733-7425.