Jackson Hole Art Blog

“The unique blend of Realism and the formal discipline of Color Field painting sets the work of Wolf Kahn apart. Kahn is an artist who embodies the synthesis of his modern abstract training with Hans Hofmann, with the palette of Matisse, Rothko’s sweeping bands of color, and the atmospheric qualities of American Impressionism.” – Wolf Kahn Bio

“With each painting, you have to set up a situation in which you can be surprised. You have to have the opportunity to be spontaneous.”- Wolf Kahn

Jackson Hole’s Fall Arts Festival is upon us, and many galleries are warming up, previewing their big shows.   In the case of Jackson’s Tayloe Piggott Gallery, in partnership with Camille Obering, the big draw is a show of Wolf Kahn paintings and pastels. Refractions of Light is on exhibit at that gallery now through October 24; an opening takes place September 10, 5-8 pm, during Palates & Palettes.

It always seemed just a matter of time before Wolf Kahn showed up at Tayloe’s.

Potent combination, balancing Matisse, Rothko and American Impressionism.  It’s as if Wolf Kahn single handedly created a new painting genre.  Oh, wait, I think he did!  Can we call him a synthesist? His most influential teacher, Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann, certainly was.  Wolf Kahn’s style, arguably one of the most recognized in American art, has itself influenced a generation of expressionistic, fauvist-style painters.  He is certainly one of the most influential contemporary landscape painters.   His work is at once tranquil and effervescence. His color palette is largely pastel, as if Nature blushed while posing for Kahn.

Though he studied art in New York, he’s a 1950’s urban art student who went country.  During the 50’s Kahn became influential in that era’s explorative, hyper-creative art movements.  Born in 1927, he continues to divide his time between New York and Vermont.

My desk calendar is a Wolf Kahn.  Even on mass produced calendar stock, Kahn’s saturated hues obliterate all the other colors in immediate view. For more information, visit www.tayloepiggottgallery.com or phone 307.733.0555.

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Check out Jackson’s  Legacy Gallery One Man Show for Texas artist Gary Lynn Roberts, opening August 26th, with an artist’s opening reception 6-8:00 pm. at the gallery.

This new exhibition features at least 15 new paintings by this popular genre artist. Heck.  Months ago I received an email from a Western art fan living in Idaho.  She asked me if I knew the name of a landscape artist from Texas, whose work was shown in Jackson.  The paintings they’d seen by that artist moved them.  That was the only information they had, and I was at a loss.  Fingers crossed they see this post and that Roberts is their man!

Roberts paints scenes recalling Western life dating from the 1800’s.  A classic landscape realist, Roberts learned to paint at an early age.  His father, Joe Rader Roberts, was also an artist.  Formative influences on Roberts’ work were artists G. Harvey and A.D. Greer.  Daily participation in ranch life gave Roberts the experience he needed to “portray the natural characteristics of horses and the ranch lifestyle….during the Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell era, when cowboys and Indians were prevalent.”

The works at this exhibit will be originals, but Roberts has a selection of giclées on canvas.  Many of his new works can be seen on the artist’s website, linked above. For more information, phone Legacy Gallery at 307.733.2353.

Though this information reached the Jackson Hole Art Blog a little late to post in time for this exhibit’s August 19 opening reception,  I wanted to call your attention to Interpreting the GYE, on exhibit through August 31 at Galleries West Fine Art.   The exhibition combines paintings, sculptures and (quite possibly) pastel.

The concept that we are all here because of the Power of Place seems to be “locking in” for Jackson’s arts community.   Of course, the GYE–Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem–has been examined, observed, interpreted and adored by artists since the 1860’s.   Now, our contemporary arts community is accepting—”considering” may be a more appropriate description — that landscape, wildlife and indigenous cultures are cool.

Galleries West features representational work by contemporary artists.   It is a friendly, hard working and lovely gallery, filled with work created with full depth of devotion to Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, Jackson.   You know these artists.   Come see the work.

Galleries West is located on 70 S. Glenwood, in Jackson  — across from Trio Restaurant.   For information, call the gallery at 307.733.4412.

Mary Roberson’s epic collection, Nature is Life in the Dream, opened at Altamira Fine Art on August 6, and you should not miss seeing this remarkable collection of new paintings.

Says Roberson, “When I struggle, I watch the critters who teach me the greatest value of all – simplicity and joy.”

This new grouping of large scale paintings is mythic in scope, abstract, muted and…dream-like.  Roberson uses earth tones mixed with low-impact greens and amber, and feels she is capturing climate, ground, atmosphere, and animal by avoiding an over use of color.   Her bison appear to have floated down from the sky, settled on desert amidst sandy clouds of dust, and are slowly materializing.

Altamira’s artist bio page says that Roberson is a “….firm believer in the concept that the creative process should be fun, selfless, and that it is natural and distinct to every individual…. Wildlife and nature are her sources of both inspiration and reaffirmation.”

Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Update:  R. Tom Gilleon, 2009’s Fall Arts Festival Poster Artist, is now represented by Altamira Fine Art.   This year’s poster signing event will take place at Altamira.   See J.H. Fall Arts Festival Calendar –click on the page link, right hand side of the Jackson Hole Art Blog’s home page.

Altamira: 307.739.4700.   www.altamiraart.com.

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The Legacy Gallery presents its summer Visions of the West: Multi-Artist Show and Sale, opening Friday, August 14.   With a focus on sculpture and paintings of Native Americans and Cowboys (I’ll capitalize both!) the show, says the gallery, “represents the true spirit of the West.”

A spirit more and more elusive, some might argue.   Let’s keep the legends, romance and history alive in Western art.  Many Legacy Gallery artists are participating in the show and will be on hand for the August 14 opening.

A list of participating artists includes: James Ayers, Roy Andersen, Russell Houston, Robert Shufelt, Chad Poppleton, C. Michael Dudash, Jason Rich, John Fawcett, David Wright, Gary Lynn Roberts, John Gawne, Teal Blake, Joni Falk, George D. Smith, and a few paintings to be sold on a draw basis by G. Harvey.  Also showing will be bronze sculptors Tim Shinabarger, Richard Greeves, G. Harvey, John Coleman, T.D. Kelsey, and Mehl Lawson.

This special show is accompanied by a color catalogue, a fine addition and collectible item in itself. For additional information or color photos,  contact Legacy Gallery at 307-733-2353 or email maya@legacygallery.com.

Item #3:  Art Association/Art Lab

The Jackson Hole Art Association’s August Art Fair Jackson Hole takes place August 14-16, at Miller Park in Jackson.   Additionally, The 10th Annual (Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival) Takin’ It to the Streets art fair takes place  Sunday, September 13, 2009. Says the Art Association, ” An intimate ‘local’s only’ show, this fair has become a popular favorite with locals and visitors alike!  If you create your own art and want to apply to this juried show, we’d love to have you! Contact Amy Fradley, Art Fair Director at 307-733-8792, or email at artistinfo@jhartfair.org.

Visiting the Art Association?  Don’t stop there; head upstairs to the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts third floor and check out Teton Art Lab. Travis Walker’s brainchild, the Art Lab provides artist residencies and a shared artistic and studio experience.  It’s a great place for artists new to Jackson to find their way and establish credibility.

This Friday, check out artwork by local and regional artists works in It Came from the Supervolcano, a collection of charged, energetic art by up-and-coming creatives and, just maybe, inspired by Yellowstone’s volcanic power.   The show adds to the ever-growing list of venues for new artists “exploding” around town.   Alexandra Kornblum’s graphic, bold oil paintings headline the show. Ben Carlson and others get in the groove, too.  The show pops its cork  with an opening Friday night, 6-9 pm, at the Art Lab.    www.tetonartlab.com.

In the fall, the Art Lab can set qualifying artists up with housing, studio access, and other kinds of support.  Email: info@tetonartlab.com.

The Legacy Gallery hosts a two-man show for Western artists James Ayers and Jason Rich this month.  An opening reception will be held on Thursday, August 6, at the gallery, 75 N. Cache, on the Jackson Town Square southwest corner.   Both artists will be present.

Ayers, a Rhode Island School of Design grad, is noted for his portraits of Indians.  (John Byrne Cooke almost decapitated me for using the term “Native American,” a term, according to Cooke, coined by wrong-headed white men.) His travels and observations of Iroquois, Sioux and Hopi inform his works, oil paintings on canvas.  I’ve read that he’s influenced by a diverse group of great masters: John Singer Sargent, Gauguin, Klimt, and Henry Tanner.  That list encompasses myriad uses of light and paint; the latter artist’s painting style alone varied extensively over the course of his career.

Jason Rich also chronicles the Western life, but with a focus on cowboys and their horses.  Imbued with an illustrative golden light, Rich’s landscape-cowboy-horse portraits capture ranch life and individual moments of reflection, traversing the plains, resting the herd creekside, riding the range under endless skies fluffed by cumulous clouds.    His love of ranch life springs from his own childhood on a Utah farm.

For additional information contact Legacy Gallery at 307-733-2353 or maya@legacygallery.com.

Item #2 :   O’Connor at Galleries West

E.C. O’Connor’s solo exhibition, “Willing: Saying Yes to the Road Less Traveled,” is featured at  Galleries West, August 6-19. The show highlights O’Connor’s productive Joshua Tree National Park residency, as well as landscapes painted in the Greater Yellowstone region.

Talented Jackson Hole artists of all ilk often go about their day-to-day lives unnoticed.  O’Connor is one: she waits tables at Nora’s, landscapes, and does her fair share of outreach work in and around the valley.   But, as has previous posts have reported, O’Connor is an accomplished landscape painter recently awarded the coveted Joshua Tree residency.   At Joshua Tree, the artist created many new works–one painting will become a permanent part of that park’s collection.

“Many people perceive undeveloped areas as valueless and inhospitable,” says O’Connor.  “In no place is this more true than in our nation’s deserts. My goal is to show the inherent beauty within a very harsh environment.”

She is a passionate on-location painter; no painting from photographs for her.   As McHuron likes to do, O’Connor paints the “wow.” Her light recalls that of such master painters as Maynard Dixon, E. Martin Hennings and Edgar Payne.

An artist’s reception happens August 6,  5-8 PM.  O’Connor will be in attendance–yay, I finally get to meet her!–and  hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and the gallery’s hallmark chocolate fountain will be available.  Call the gallery at 307-733-4412 or visit www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.

Galleries West twitters.  You can also follow the gallery on Twitter (www.twitter.com/gallerieswest) and their page on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/gallerieswest).

Item #3

Mary Roberson opens her new show, Nature is the Life of the Dream, at Altamira Fine Art on Thursday, August 6.  A reception will be held 5:00-7:00 pm.  More on this exhibit in my next post, but don’t miss what promises to be a good kickoff for a special show.  connect@altamiraart.com.

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Jackson Hole Center for the Arts’ founder John Tozzi and Center resident Dancers Workshop Artistic Director Babs Case are 2009’s Winners of the Award for Creativity.

Case’s 11-year devotion to Dancers’ Workshop has transformed a small, back-office company into a state-of-the-art outfit. DW provides dance classes and performances for all ages, all tastes; its electric current and constant vivacity are one of Jackson’s main creative arteries.   It’s all due to Case, who, in addition to  her dancing and directing, is an accomplished visual artist.  It could be said that Case ignited finding new venues for artists not able to appear in galleries, with her popular summer “Harpo’s Art Fair,” a day-long fun arts n’ picnic in Bab’s back yard.   Fun like Alice’s Wonderland fun.    Jodeen Tebay beautifully writes, “while dance is what brought Babs to the community, space is her true passion. On the stage, on paper, in textiles, in architecture, and in life she sees and creates beautiful compositions of space.”

Nobody deserves this award more than Babs Case.  Congratulations, Babs!

Congratulations to, to co-winner John Tozzi, without whom Jackson would not have the magnificent Jackson arts hub, the Center for the Arts.   Said Bruce Hawtin, “It is at times difficult to be creative and make a living. Because of John, the arts, all of the arts in Jackson Hole, have a home; therefore they have a place to be creative. That doesn’t spell success but it removes one of the obstacles.”

The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole invites everyone to attend the 15^th Annual Award for Creativity Celebration on Thursday, September 10 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. at Dancers’ Workshop’s Studio 1 in the Center for the Arts. 2009 recipients will be presented with awards made by a local artist. This year’s artist is Laurie Thal.

During the month of July, Jackson Hole’s Legacy Gallery will offer up one-person shows for artists Carol Hagan and Jay Moore.   Hagan’s exhibit opens Thursday, July 2; Moore’s debuts Thursday, July 16.

Carol Hagan is noted for her painterly, half-impressionistic half-Fauvist color palette, ecstatically applied to whimsically rendered animal portraits.  Embedded with Native American symbols and totems, Hagan’s mystical images fast-freeze species’ souls.  Blood reds and rubbed, earthy yellows suggest a womb, a path towards the light.  Legacy Gallery notes that Hagen is well-known to such prominent Western Art venues as the C. M. Russell Auction, the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale, and Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s show – “Cowgirl Up!”  Says the gallery, Hagan’s paintings are paintings “from the heart.”

Landscape artist Jay Moore’s skies are big; making the clouds in the sky seem to move across the prairie and a river’s glassy water slide down a valley are reasons why Moore is a respected landscape painter.  The Legacy Gallery notes that Moore develops color studies and sketches from plein-air. He then combines a certain technology with a traditional plein aire style by assigning GPS (latitude/longitude) coordinates to his pieces. From a historical perspective, this will be of interest and assist collectors and historians. Moore is a devoted and respected artist, says Legacy, whose landscape paintings allow the viewer to feel the beauty of the scene he is recreating.

Legacy Gallery invites the public to both July openings.  Welcome to summer!   Find Legacy Gallery on the corner of Jackson’s Town Square, at 75 North Cache. Contact the gallery by phone at 307.733.2353.