Painter Ben Steele has partnered with Altamira Fine Art for his upcoming solo show Wanted: In the New West,featuring 15 new pieces. The show explores the “visual language of mid-century Americana, roadside motels, vintage packaging and the iconography of the cowboy,” says Altamira Fine Art owner Jason Williams, who believes that Steele represents a defining voice within the Western Pop movement.
Triple Feature, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in.
“Wanted: In the New West is going after those traditions of Western art: the cowboy, films, sprawling landscapes and Western art heroes,” Steele says. “But, in my work, I always want to have some fun with those mainstays that can become tropes if not explored at a deeper level. I hope that my art is able to tell more of a layered, engaging story because I always shoot for it to be about several things at once and balance between reverence and satire.”
For Steele, a new body of work has to be led by concept and variation. Style and technique are already baked in from his formative years. “I was trained under a system that prioritized technique and art understanding from day one,” he says. “But I think there are such an incredible amount of skilled painters out there that my interest leans more into how I can offer something different to the conversation. At this point in my career, the emphasis is, ‘What am I trying to say with each piece? How can I add something to the Western art dialogue that hasn’t been said before, even if it’s just a small nugget?’”
The Best of the West Inn, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in.
We see Steele having bit of fun in his painting Triple Feature, featuring three bottles of alcohol, executed in great detail, with the bottle labels as the main focus. “I got to play advertising designer for a minute and decide how these old, vintage Westerns might market themselves on a liquor product,” the artist says. “It’s like two different kinds of indulgences coming together...”
The show—set for display at Altamira Fine Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from June 16 to 30—is also described by Williams as the intersection of nostalgia, design and painterly precision. —
Altamira Fine Art 172 Center Street » Jackson Hole, WY 83001 » (307) 739-4700 » www.altamiraart.com
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