Talking to Duke Beardsley, you’re just as likely to hear names such as Eadweard Muybridge, Andy Warhol, Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Diebenkorn as you are Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington. His tastes run the gamut, as does his art, which is part Pop Art, part modern art, but all cowboy.
Limbo, oil on canvas, 12 x 36"
“I have so many artists that interest me. One of my first art influences was Jacques-Louis David, who did these hyperstylized horses with Napoleon and other figures,” Beardsley says. “Sometimes I think what would it be like for these artists to be friends and talk to each other. When I was younger my heart was broken when I found out so many of them were dead, some by 100 years.”
Spike, oil on canvas, 60 x 60"
Beardsley, a fifth-generation Coloradoan, will be presenting his newest contemporary works at a new show opening March 15 at Altamira Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona. The works are coming straight from the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, where they were on display at his joint exhibition with sculptor Greg Woodard in Indian & Cowboys: Redefined by Duke & Woodard. The show, which hung for several months at the Booth, was spectacularly presented and curated, but due to pandemic restrictions, much of the public wasn’t able to see the show in person. Once at Altamira, which won’t have the same restrictions as that of a big museum, the works will be available for a wider audience, and on the opposite side of the country. And for anyone who did see the Booth presentation, either in person or virtually, Beardsley is adding to it with new works.
El Maestro, oil on canvas, 60 x 72"
The show will feature around 25 paintings, totalling more than 40 canvases. Some of the works, such as the lunar-themed Flower Moon, make up a series of paintings meant to be shown together as a larger installation, as well as separately. In another series, which includes the piece Limbo, 12-by-36-inch works are meant to be stacked nine high, creating a massive wall of cowboys.
Flower Moon, oil on canvas, 36 x 72"
Beardsley’s work often features the image of a cowboy repeated in rows, grids or even in the background of larger pieces as if it were wallpaper. The horses and figures, all hand painted, can have a hypnotic effect that makes the paintings more engaging. The eye can get lost from one cowboy to the next, or in the shifting of the color, and it speaks to the modern aspects of the artist’s studio and body of work. “Warhol did that a lot, repeating a subject, as did Muybridge,” he says. “For me, it’s all about the cowboy, a little bit of hero worship, and after all these cowboys I’m still not tired of this repeated iconography. I’m getting closer to understanding it. My job is to crack the door open and see what happens.”
He urges viewers to take a look and see for themselves. “If you figure it out, let me know.”
Upcoming Show
Up to 26 works
March 15-27, 2021
Altamira Fine Art
7038 E. Main Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 949-1256
www.altamiraart.com
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