Two rising artists within the world of Western art are combining forces for a new show at Gallery Wild in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Ron Russon, whose depictions of wildlife are shattered and fragmented, will be joining Aaron Hazel, who paints powerful portraits using blocky chunks of color, in the gallery show that opens on July 21. 
Aaron Hazel, Out West, oil, 40 x 30"
“Ron Russon and Aaron Hazel are two distinct artists whose style of painting, use of color, shapes and incredible texture, is comparable to none,” says gallery owner and artist Carrie Wild. “Both are playful yet sophisticated. It’s hard to deny yourself the opportunity to get up close and personal to experience the joyous color relationships of their Western subjects.”
Russon puts his own spin on it: “We do traditional subject matter, but we march to the beat of our drum.”
Aaron Hazel, Wolf Robe, oil, 48 x 36"
The artist, who lives in Utah and comes from the world of illustration, says he found his unique style while essentially having no style at all. “I always wanted to do wildlife and by the time I had done my 50th brown bear, that same brown bear wasn’t doing it for me anymore. It just left me unsatisfied,” he says.
“I remember thinking back to Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. These painters operated without rules, so why should I? So I started pushing the limits with color and experimenting more. That’s the path that led me to discover my own voice.”
Ron Russon, Looking Back, oil on canvas, 40 x 30"Today Russon hunts—with a Nikon camera—up in the Wasatch Range near his home, where he finds cougar, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, moose, rabbits, coyotes and dozens of other subjects.
For Hazel, he was drawn to the West from a successful career as a sports artist. The NFL was routinely taking him away from his home in Boise, Idaho, but it was the history around his home, particularly that rich Native American history all around the region, that would lead him out of sports and into the West. “It was a curiosity mostly. And being a person of color, that Native American history had a mysterious pull on me,” Hazel says. “I started learning about the Nez Perce and the Shoshone and their mystical way of being. It really got me hooked.”
Ron Russon, Black Bear, Gold Heart, oil on canvas, 40 x 40"
Another influence on the rising artist was a prominent Western teacher, Robert Moore. Other important influences were German painter Gerhard Richter and American painter Jasper Johns. “I learned to like the palette knife through Gerhard Richter, and then texture through Jasper Johns,” Hazel says. “But then Robert really opened it all up for me, especially as I had some fun painting landscapes and working in these new ideas. I guess I never looked back after that.”
The Gallery Wild show continues through July 30. —
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