A show for Arizona artist Howard Post will present some of his newest paintings, as well as revisit some older sketches and mixed media pieces recently rediscovered in his studio. The show will also be a homecoming for Post, who lives in and has a long history with Tucson, Arizona, which is also home to the host of the show, Mark Sublette’s Medicine Man Gallery.
Cattle Talk, oil, 10 x 8”Some of the new paintings and a hefty portion of the older works on paper exemplify some of the subjects Post is known for, including his fascination with rodeo and rodeo riders. He doesn’t typically paint the action scenes at rodeos, although he does turn his attention to the quieter moments behind the scenes. Many of the images are seen from an elevated perspective, which originated in the 1980s when some of these pictures were created.
Gathering at the Red Gate, oil, 10 x 8”
“Many of these were done from around 1985 to 1987. My wife felt that I should go through some of my stuff and as I was digging around there they all were. These are pretty early sketches for me. They started as these works on paper and then I would develop them into larger oils,” Post says. “They definitely came in the midst of my discovery of that high overhead view. After I had seen it all from that angle, it was something I was always looking for. From those high angles you get these big shadow patterns and so on. I was immediately attracted to that look.”
Horse Talk, 1987, mixed media, 8¼ x 7¼”
Post says he would use a camera back then, as opposed to sketching at the rodeos he attended, including some he was competing in. “I’m not an outdoor artist because it’s too dang hot,” he adds. “I had my trusty camera and I would take everything back to the studio.”
He achieved that high angle at rodeos by climbing up on fences near the chutes and pens. “It was sort of an accidental discovery at the time, but a pretty exciting one,” Post says. “Sometimes there was an announcer’s stand that would get me even higher—20 or 30 feet up would really make for a dramatic view. Sometimes there would even be a crow’s nest that would give you even better opportunities.”
Lunch Break, 1987, mixed media, 7 3⁄8 x 10½”
Passing the Buttes, oil, 8 x 10”
This overhead perspective is something Post is still using today, including in this show. One of the new works is an oil titled Cattle Talk, showing two cowboy figures boxed in by a wooden fence and dramatic shadows in golden dirt. Compare that with one of the older pieces, including Horse Talk, which employs a similar idea, but from a slightly different angle. “All my figures are real people. They are the real deal,” he adds. “I would work right from what I was seeing.”
Red Hills, oil, 8 x 10”
Many of the works show how and why Post is considered one of the top Western modernists working today: his color is magical, his compositions often show the repetitive patterns of corrals and fences, and his figures offer a glimpse into the solemn and lonely nature of living in the West. They hang their heads or peer off into the sunsets. These are not broken or miserable figures, but they do have forlorn qualities to them, like working men at the end of a long day.
Bullpens, 1985, mixed media, 9¼ x 8”
Bullpens, 1985, mixed media, 9¼ x 8”
The show will cap off quite a successful year for the artist, who has not only had several gallery solo shows, but also debuted his work as a guest artist at the Cowboy Artists of America’s annual show in November in fort Worth, Texas. Additionally, he will be showing his work at a retrospective, Howard Post: Western Perspectives, at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, starting on December 16. The museum will honor him further with a special lifetime achievement award in January 2024.
Post’s Medicine Man show, titled Past & Present, will open December 2. —
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