Artist Brad Price has traveled extensively throughout his career, scanning landscapes and hidden gems to incorporate into new paintings, but no other location has dazzled him quite as much as the state of New Mexico. For his upcoming Meyer Gallery solo show, New Mexico Backgrounds, Price displays around 30 colorful landscape depictions of his backroad adventures in Northern New Mexico.
Autumn Chamisa, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
“I come out to New Mexico several times a year to discover new paintings,” Price explains, “and I go back to the same places and try to get new angles and compositions. [For this show], I also want to emphasize that I always travel by backroad and see things that are not on the main tourist tours.”
For instance, Price describes an adventure traveling a road near the Taos ski region that trails down to the Rio Grande River. “Across the gorge from the river that runs down to the Rio Grande is an amazing adobe building—partially in ruin,” he says. “I had to take a picture with a zoom lens because it was across a big chasm, but my objective next time, is to try and stand next to that building. I love finding a spot and taking off through the brush and Chamisa and finding something new. I just strike out.”
As part of his process, Price takes many photographs of a particular scene, and feels that the photography is a very important part of his work. “My photos are composed ahead of time—perfectly for the painting,” he notes. “I don’t click the shutter before I see a painting.”
Chama Backroad, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”
When it comes to his style and technique, many might see a striking resemblance to Vincent van Gogh, along with some of the Taos Society of Artists, and Price would agree he has been inspired by these artists. “The main thing in my work, is that I use directional strokes,” he says. “They follow the contour of nature—the direction of the growth of a tree or the way it blows in the wind. My brush strokes tend to move the viewers eye through the painting in and around the subject matter, without a lot of blending of color. I use a lot of complimentary color as well, because they make the painting vibrate and come alive.”
This can be seen in show pieces like Autumn Chamisa, a desert foliage scene from Price’s adventure northwest of Santa Fe, down Tano Road. “It’s a residential area with beautiful adobe homes,” he recalls, “and the road winds for quite a while. One afternoon, around 5 o’clock, I saw the way the sun was coming through the chamisa and pulled over and took a number of photographs.”
Santa Fe Christmas, oil on canvas, 30 x 40”Other pieces to look forward to at the show include Chama Backroad, a stunning look at the sandstone cliffs in the Chama Wilderness near Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch. “The light changes from one side of the valley to the other,” says Price. “It’s especially beautiful in the fall.” Show attendees will see additional landscapes, aerial depictions, historic Moradas and even a nocturnal view seen in Santa Fe Christmas of an adobe decorated with luminarias during the holidays.
The show will open on November 4 with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. and closes November 17. —
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