Growing up on a small ranch on the edge of Tucson, Arizona, and becoming a rodeo competitor, led Howard Post to a prolific career in depicting scenes from the West. Today, his oil paintings are displayed and exhibited in prestigious art shows and museums around the country, and beginning October 22, a mix of new and older works will hang at Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery. In the show, titled From Above, is a 10-piece series that focuses on Post’s unique perspective of his subjects. Rodeo Cattle, oil, 24 x 60”

“Back in the ’80s,” says Post, “I discovered this overhead view as I got up on fences and catwalks at rodeo arenas and looked at the animals.” [What I saw] were amazing abstract shapes, colors and shadows, and it caught my attention. Since then, I’ve been using this approach throughout my career.” While the artist paints an array of other perspectives in his work, he continues to come back to this distinctive “view from above.” Medicine Man Gallery owner Mark Sublette says the work is “a heartfelt commentary on Western life.”

Since being involved in rodeo on professional and amateur levels starting in high school, Post has been continuously surrounded by animals and the cowboy lifestyle. “I can’t resist when I see animals crowding together in a pen, the abstract shapes they make, their difference in color—I find that intriguing.”Hillside Herd, oil, 18 x 24”

One such “crowding” image is seen in show piece Rodeo Cattle, featuring cattle before a rodeo competition. “I think this is a strong piece,” Post says. “It combines the angularity of the corral, juxtaposed with the animals crowded together. It makes for an interesting contrast.” He also explains that the painting reflects a common practice of rodeo competitors, where they preview the cattle in the pen to prepare. Wild Horses on the Coast, oil, 24 x 36”

Post will also incorporate a mix of new paintings into the show that includes The Paint Stallion, a group of running horses, and Hillside Herd, that also shows a group of horses that appear to stare out across a colorful, Western landscape. Both pieces diverge from his crowded views and show animals on the open range. “A lot of these pieces start from photographs,” he shares, “but I often invent parts to the scene. In Hillside Herd, I was especially inventive. I don’t feel like I need to portray animals, a person or landscape to be realistic and my subjects aren’t always totally specific.” The Paint Stallion, oil, 24 x 48”We see another slight shift in Post’s work in Wild Horses on the Coast, where we still get the view from above, but his horses are running toward a body of water, a scene he took from a trip to North Carolina, where he witnessed wild horses around the beach. In discussing the piece, he explains that he also likes to invent the colors of the animals he depicts.
“I don’t feel obligated to get their actual coloration as they are in real life,” he says.
For the exhibition closing on November 5, Post hopes that collectors see that he’s always exploring new Western subject matter.
“I paint the West but try to see things from different points of view. I don’t want to get stale and want to bring a fresh approach.” —

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