Beginning January 7, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery will host a new collection of works for the show Francis Livingston – In Balance and Rhythm. Dedicated to and passionate about Southwestern landscapes and figures, Livingston has created around 20 oil paintings that highlight exploration of technique, color, mood and his continued interest in nostalgic elements.
Winter Creek, oil, 24 x 24"
Livingston began his career as an illustrator, like many of his Western art predecessors that he so admired. His inspiration also stems from growing up in Oklahoma and visiting the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, along with trips to Northern New Mexico. Many of his new works resemble the New Mexico landscape and culture, and his home in Idaho.
“I’m always on this journey,” says Livingston, “and it’s been the same one for many years; trying to interpret the Southwest in a more personal way. It has to do with introducing colors and textures into the paint because I’m not a photorealist. I’m trying to be more inventive with the colors and shapes I use…I’m always using references but adapting that reference and stylizing a lot. It’s an ongoing journey to design my paintings.” He also notes his interest in the history of a painting or “what shows through from the bottom layer,” he says. “A lot of layering goes into the way I work. One layer on top of another layer on top of another.”
Forest Dapple, oil, 24 x 12"
Livingston references historic photographs for his pieces, calling upon a time long gone, a theme that is prevalent in his additional art projects that extend beyond art of the West. His use of nostalgia can be seen in show piece Pueblo Light, a Taos Pueblo that Livingston found in a historic photo.
“I’m after a certain mood in most of these new pieces,” Livingston furthers, “and you can see it mainly in [Pueblo Light]. The lighting of the moon above the Pueblo, [for instance], helps set this mood. The moon is always there but we don’t see it until the sun hits it at just the right time. That’s what’s being depicted.”
Also in the piece are figures in the foreground, another element Livingston often uses to show scale. Figures are also in Winter Creek, where Native Americans on horseback are standing on an icy, snowy lake among colorful foliage. “My paintings are basically landscape pieces with some figures in them,” he furthers. “I’ll also have a lot of snow scenes because I wanted to explore the idea of texture and color of snow in different kinds of light.”
Pueblo Light, oil, 24 x 20"
What Livingston really wants for the show, “is for people to look at the work but keep coming back to it. Even if it’s a simple scene, I want there to be enough there that it’s not so simple and easy to know it all in a first pass. They can look at it at different times and see new things and think ‘oh, I didn’t notice that.’”
He also acknowledges that a lot of his pieces aren’t full of action or energy and are meant to be quiet. “I’m trying to depict a sort of a quietness of snow and forest,” he explains. “It’s a feeling of the landscape and the people there aren’t violating that quietness. You get that calm sense and a serene feeling.”
Upcoming Show
Up to 20 works
January 7-February 4, 2022
Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery
6872 E. Sunrise Drive, Suite 139, Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-7798, www.medicinemangallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
