As the heat begins to rush in, Settlers West Galleries will roll out its annual Summer Show, featuring some of the gallery’s favorite artists alongside upcoming stars in the Western art world. The exhibition gives collectors the opportunity to close out the season in style before they flee to cooler climates during Arizona’s famously hot summer.
Fifty-two artists will be showing 100 new works during the Summer Show,which runs from May 6 to 20. Among them are major artists like Jeremy Winborg, Stephanie Campos, John Fawcett, Ann Hanson, D. Edward Kucera and Darcie Peet. While the exhibition displays a variety of subject matter emblematic of the West, many paintings focus specifically on Native American culture.
Jeremy Winborg, Looking Up, oil, 20 x 30”
Campos’ Plenty Coups is a charcoal portrait of Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation. “Chief Plenty Coups was recognized for his visionary leadership and was considered the last traditional chief of the Crow Nation,” she says. “When he was younger, he was a man of war and thought to have had between 50 to 100 feathers on his coup stick, each one representing an act of valor. In his later years he became a peacemaker and helped to bridge the gap between white settlers and his tribe.”
Three Lakota horsemen drive forward in a flurry of dust in Fawcett’s The Chase. He says, “My whole purpose for painting this watercolor was to show action and the powerful force of these Lakota braves on their horses, creating a leader and a depth in the composition with plenty of dirt and dust.”
Stephanie Campos, Plenty Coups, charcoal, 13½ x 10”
Winborg comments on his oil Looking Up, in which a young girl gazes toward the sky, sitting atop a white horse: “I love to paint both loose and realistic and, luckily, my painting style feeds both of those desires. The combination of thick brush and pallet knife work combined with the realism of the figure and horse make for an interesting juxtaposition.”
Ann Hanson, Turquoise Parasol, oil on panel, 30 x 24”
For the past two years, since the death of her husband, painting has served as a form of respite and therapy for Hanson. “When all has felt out of control in my life, that is one simple ritual I can turn to and control—somewhat,” she says. “Dreams of the Warrior’s Return is my tribute to women everywhere who are in any stage of mourning or grief. This young woman has hope, mixed with anxiety, on her face. She has no promise that her beloved will return from the hunt or battle. Life at that time, just as now had so few guarantees, but she is still anticipating with hope for the best.” Another piece by Hanson is Turquoise Parasol, depicting a woman on horseback with clothing that complements her parasol.
John Fawcett, The Chase, watercolor, 19 x 24”
Peet’s Baboquivari Haze and Desert Bluebells is an ode to the Sonoran Desert of Tucson, Arizona. While out exploring the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in search of the colors of spring, the artist found herself on a high point looking down and out over the flat plains of the Avra and Altar valleys. “What contrast there was between the softly muted, distant elements of the land that seemed to stretch on forever and the more vivid foreground, desert hillside scattered with a potpourri of desert plants,” Peet reflects.
An opening preview begins on May 6 at 10 a.m., followed by a festive reception at 5:30 p.m., and finishing with a set-price purchase draw at 7 p.m. —
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