Jim Vogel celebrates the everydayness of the life around him and the long history of the people in Northern New Mexico where he lives. Each painting is a narrative, telling a tale of a colorful person. Often, he and his family will invent a story with multiple characters, each one brought to visual life in his paintings.
Take a Closer Look, oil on canvas panel with scorched antique wood frame, 52 x 27½"
His next exhibition is Take a Closer Look at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 24 through October 16.
Many of Vogel’s characters might be ignored by the general public, but he honors them for their hard work and innate dignity, exaggerating their hands that do the work. He brings them to our attention, presenting them as “unsung heroes.”
Off the Wagon, oil on canvas panel with old cast-iron water meter frame, 10"
The title painting of the exhibition asks us to take a closer look at life in general, perhaps to be aware that there can be danger where we don’t expect it. A vermilion flycatcher perches on a gnarled tree trunk, its color echoed in the cactus blossoms at the bottom of the composition. Cows graze in a fertile field along the river. A young piñon grows at the foot of the dead tree. His commentary on life and death is enhanced by the presence of a field mouse who has become aware of the deadly threat of a rattler hiding in the foreground.
In 2016, he received a Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, honoring him as he pays tribute to the people and history of New Mexico.
Upcoming Show
Up to 12 works
Sept. 24-Oct. 16, 2021
Blue Rain Gallery
544 S. Guadalupe Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 954-9902
www.blueraingallery.com
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