Maxwell Alexander Gallery | March 13-27, 2021 | Los Angeles, CA

Josh Elliott: Vagabond

New landscapes will be available from Josh Elliott in a new solo show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery

Josh Elliot will give a “tour of the West in paint” in his exhibition, Vagabond, at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles, opening March 6. Born in Montana and a third-generation artist, he says simply,
“I love the West.”

There will be scenes from California, New Mexico, Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Montana, each with its own atmosphere and each with Elliott’s own observations filtered through his own artistic sensibility.

Sierra Shadows, oil, 20 x 24”

“I cut my teeth painting outside in the Pacific Northwest,” he says. “I enjoy the atmosphere there and all the grays.” Headlands is a scene at Cape Lookout State Park in Oregon. The gray cliff rises precipitously out of the Pacific, its detail softens in the distance as we look at it through the drops of sea water suspended in the air. He has painted a few birds to bring the eye down from the height and to add to the sense of depth.

“I observe and paint what I see, not what I think it should be or what I think I know about it,” he explains. “I enjoy painting a variety of things. I think it heightens my sense of observation by not painting the same thing all the time. I don’t paint every detail, and I move things around to make a better composition. Often, I play up the reflected light.”

Headlands, oil, 20 x 24”

He says, “In Sierra Shadows, I was intrigued by the dark clouds, the sunlight on the hills and the shadows radiating down the valleys.” He likes to include “the human element“ and, in this painting, he anchors the composition with a small farm at the base of the hills.

“In both of these paintings,” he says, “there is one big main shape. I want them to read from across the room as a whole. As you get closer you can explore more and be rewarded by little details.

Survivor, Death Valley, oil, 14 x 16”“I see beauty everywhere,” he continues. “Everybody seeks out beautiful things from other humans to animals, the landscape and even man-made things. We all recognize it but not everyone agrees on what is beautiful. But we do agree that it exists.”