Using hyper-realism Tracy Stuckey’s narratives evoke a mythical West. His characters, a mixture of slick billboard models and pulp fiction storylines, speak to the way the West is portrayed and misunderstood. These scenarios, like a funhouse mirror, allow us to examine our own absurdities. “There are...
Scraping each layer to reveal a glimpse of what waits beneath, Andrew Skorut patiently creates his landscapes. It’s as if he’s uncovering the distance by offering a compressed surface, a surface beveled and scratched with the notion of space. “It’s interesting to me; from a distance,...
Two things drive Marie Figge Wise: fishing and finding the truth. Fishing takes her to places where nature speaks in its truest voice, in the lullaby of pastures, the whispers of spring creeks, and the poetry of mountain rivers. Whether her tool of choice is...
History looms large in Walla Walla, where the architecture has been thoughtfully preserved and restored in the area’s stately homes, public buildings, and private businesses, including in a few wineries for which the region continues to be known. Located in Southeast Washington, Walla Walla unfurls westward...
Woven Open-Collar Basket by Leon Niehues From coast to coast, Leon Niehues has exhibited his baskets and received widespread praise. Working from his studio in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Niehues harvests his materials on his 40-acre wooded property. Patiently, he weaves together each basket, using white...
When a sculpture is cast at the foundry, the bronze comes out a nondescript, pale yellow. The rich, burnt umber look of burnished leather we associate with famous Western bronzes, such as those by Remington or Russell, comes from patination. And while most Western-themed bronze...
Thought-provoking images of Western lands, figures, and habitations dominated sales as summer wound to a slow end. Auctions saw brisk bidding by collectors arrested by renderings of the places and the peoples that anchor a region with representations tied to both contemporary and historic artists. A...
WHEN THE HOTEL BOULDERADO OPENED on New Year’s Day of 1909, it hadn’t been long since there were gunfights in the streets outside. Boulder, Colorado, has changed since then, from an early-20th-century boomtown to a hip, 21st-century city that’s “nestled between the mountains and reality,” according...
Just when you think you have Skylab figured out — geometric modular designs and breathtaking cantilevered extensions that appear as if they are about to take flight — founder Jeff Kovel and his team of 37 in Portland, Oregon, come up with a many-windowed, yurt-inspired...
Only the most gifted artists are able to fold art history and personal history into a cohesive and imaginative new direction. Painter John Nieto, who passed away in July 2018, was such a master. Nieto is recognized as the first American artist to bring French...