“Blooming West celebrates the seed that Georgia O’Keeffe planted, a modern vision of the West that fused florals with emotion, experimentation and soul,” explains Altamira Fine Art owner Jason Williams about an upcoming show at the Scottsdale gallery. “Her work opened the door for artists to reimagine the Western landscape through the lens of modernism.”
Billy Schenck, I Hate Flowers, oil on canvas, 35 x 45 in.
Featuring artists Billy Schenck, Dennis Ziemienski, Ben Steele, Brad Overton, Duke Beardsley, Robert Moore and guest artist Whitney Gardner, the show highlights how the artists carry on O’Keeffe’s legacy through their use of bold form, vibrant hues and personal narrative in styles definitive of contemporary Western art. “Together, they honor O’Keeffe’s pioneering spirit while pushing the Western story forward. These works are rooted in the timeless subjects of Western flora but reinvented with a progressive, imaginative and modern aesthetic,” adds Williams.
Ben Steele, Censored Jimson Weed, oil on canvas, 42 x 35 in.
Moore finds a connection to O’Keeffe through the emotional and experimental nature of his paintings, coupled with his signature bold color, which he attributes to being color blind. “I could be considered part of her lineage in that my vision is different than my contemporaries, and I also have dealt with difficulties in expressing my perspective,” he adds.
Wild Blooms exemplifies the artist’s dynamic, daring style, a painting Moore describes as an “attempt at my emotional response to roses in a vase, while having the energy and surface that goes past representational boundaries. Those who chose to create in the West like O’Keeffe have many God-given explosive qualities placed before them in nature. It is a constant and dependable inspiration.”
Dennis Ziemienski, Wildfire, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in.
O’Keeffe is an artist that Ziemienski has greatly admired. “When I travel through the Southwest, imagery is always coming up that reminds me of her work,” he says. “It would be impossible to look at flowers and cactus from the West without feeling her presence and inspiration.” His painting Wildfire, which depicts a paddle cactus on his property, is testament to the timeless captivating beauty of desert flora. “It’s now over 8 feet tall, and I wouldn’t have seen this blossom since it was up high if I hadn’t looked out a very small window in our house—and there it was like a flame glowing in the sunset.”
Robert Moore, Wild Blooms, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in.
For Steele, being tasked to explore “the seed O’Keeffe had planted” felt more like a direct assignment since his work often explores themes and subject matter related to art history and pop culture. Because of her significance, O’Keeffe has shown up in some of his paintings. “There is something in the controversy of her work that inspired me to explore her artistic intent versus what might have been imposed on her through marketing or even historical art analysis,” Steele says. “Is an O’Keeffe flower just a flower? Whether she actually meant her florals to be anything more than a detailed, thoughtful examination of the depths of a flower is up for debate. But I found the existence of the argument to be my launch point for my censored pieces—work that hopefully brings a smile and ideally sparks an interesting conversation.”
Blooming West opens on January 20 and remains on view through January 31. An opening reception will be held on January 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. —
Altamira Fine Art 7038 E. Main Street » Scottsdale, AZ 85251 » (480) 949-1256 » www.altamiraart.com
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