It’s easy to draw comparisons between the work of artists and friends Dennis Ziemienski and Billy Schenck—sweeping Southwestern vistas, billowing thunderclouds, the purple and orange hues of the desert and a deep appreciation of the American West. One could also argue that these are where the parallels end. Visitors to Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will have a unique opportunity to decide for themselves when Schenck and Ziemienski participate in a joint show that runs from July 29 to August 13.
Billy Schenck, Canyonlands #4, oil on canvas, 15” x 32”
Ziemienski will exhibit paintings from a new series called Visions of the Southwest that focus on scenes from Northern New Mexico—pueblos that echo the distant mesas, figures on horseback or wagon, a pueblo woman grinding corn while another bakes bread in the background. One departure in the show that points to his background as an illustrator and an affinity for vintage travel posters, commemorates the 100th anniversary of La Fonda on the Plaza hotel in Santa Fe, out front of which he’s parked an old Fred Harvey tour vehicle.
Dennis Ziemienski, Approaching from the West, oil on canvas, 60” x 60”
Billy Schenck, Boots on the Ground #2, oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
“Hopefully I’ve turned out something beautiful that deserves to be shown,,” Ziemienski says of his new series. “If I like it, that’s just fine; if [other] people like it, it’s icing on the cake.”
For Schenck’s side of the show, he continues to create visually arresting work that toys with one’s ability to make meaning. He will show a dozen paintings, including works from his Boots on the Ground series which is both a literal description of them and a reference to the military cliché. His “cowboy descano” paintings—which put a satirical Western spin on roadside shrines to commemorate a fatality—will also be on display.
Dennis Ziemienski, The Golden Hour, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
“When I became enamored with Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns it was evident that he was going to alter everything about how Western movies would look,” says Schenck.
“I always thought, “I want to do with Western art what he did with Western film. And I think I’ve achieved that.” —
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