An upcoming exhibition at the A.R. Mitchell Museum celebrates the enduring importance of illustration in the contemporary art sphere. Curated by Denver-based illustrator Elliot Lang, Character in Context is a direct contrast and rebuttal to artificially created artwork, showcasing process work from each artist, from preliminary drawings to color studies. These materials accompany the finished artworks on display, all of which will be available for purchase. This is the most comprehensive presentation and largest collection of original illustrations for sale from living illustrators in the Western United States.
Victor Adame Minguez, The Farmer’s Daughter, acrylic and oil on gesso board, 18 x 24 in.
Featured artists include Greg Manchess, Julie Bell, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Sarah Finnigan, Gary Kelley, Vanessa Lemen, Bill Sienkiewicz, Chris Visions, Scott Fischer, Thomas Fluharty, Teresa Fischer, Ravi Zupa and many more.
“I know my art is unconventionally Western due to the fantasy elements, but I’m not the only one guilty of romanticizing the West,” says artist and illustrator Victor Adame Minguez. His acrylic and oil painting in the exhibition, The Farmer’s Daughter, depicts a woman in a blue pioneer-style dress poised with a shotgun, surrounded by triceratops. “Dinosaurs were my logical next step for this series as they also shaped American history in their own way. It is also important to mention this all started due to my phobia of horses, and love of dinosaurs of course. The Farmer’s Daughter, like most of my paintings, seeks to depict strong female characters. It started with her standing over the carcass of a large predator, which she shot to defend her cattle. But I instead went in the Jawsdirection where the threat you can’t see is a stronger tool for creating tension,” he says. “I think this piece resonates [with] so many people because of that mystery factor in storytelling. Letting the viewer’s imagination fill in the void will always be more powerful than any element on the canvas could ever be.”
Bud Cook, Not Deterred, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 in.
Zak Pullen’s highly stylized Austin Eclipse features a cowboy resting on the ground with a bull, which the artist completed for this year’s solar eclipse. “Having experienced the eclipse of 2017, of which I had done a painting that was turned into posters, magnets, prints, T-shirts, and other items, I created another for 2024…This painting in particular spoke to the theme of ‘Character in Context,’” says the artist.
Ryan Pancoast, Comet, oil on stretched canvas, 24 x 36 in.
Not Deterred, by artist Bud Cook, captures a man in a bright yellow coat on horseback. “The subject is my friend Tim Trabon and his horse Magic…In the summer of 2015 I attended an intensive art program called the Illustration Academy in Kansas City, where I met Timmy Trabon who was part of the program staff,” says Cook. “I got to spend some time with Timmy during the five weeks that I was in Kansas City, and during that time he regaled me with stories about his dad, Tim Trabon. At the closing night barbecue for the program, it was my good fortune to get the chance to meet Tim and his wife Patti…In the short time that I got to spend with Tim that evening, chatting and listening to his stories, he had a profound effect on me that I still find difficult to describe. A man of adventure, an entrepreneur, a family man, a raconteur of the highest order, and a treasured friend to many people around the globe. Sadly, Tim passed away in 2018, and I never got the chance to know him as well as I would have liked to.”
Julie Bell, Big Red, oil on linen, 20 x 30 in.
Show curator Lang says, “Illustration is omnipresent in the contemporary art world, and the most compelling artwork tells a story…It is the most recognizable form of contemporary art. We are fortunate to hold this show at the A.R. Mitchell Museum, a unique contemporary art museum built to house an enormous collection of modern illustration.”
Character in Context opens with a reception on June 7 and runs through July 27. —
Character in Context
June 7-July 27, 2024
A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art
150 E. Main Street, Trinidad, CO 81082
(719) 846-4224, www.armitchellmuseum.com
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