David and Nealy Riley work in the same studio with their easels 6 feet apart. Over the past decades, their work has played off one another and presents a compelling artist experience that weaves portraiture, wildlife, emotion and symbolism.
The upcoming event A Weekend with David & Nealy Riley will take place at Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe on July 31 and August 1, offering collectors and art appreciators the rare opportunity to engage with two nationally recognized artists whose work are both visually captivating, and deeply resonant.
Nealy Riley, Waiting, oil on gold on canvas, 36 x 36 in.
“I think unconsciously, our work influences each other quite a bit. Not so much in a collaborative way but in proximity,” says David. “We’ve been together for 20 years. I think that being around each other all the time, we arrived at similar conclusions or solutions to things. Typically, while one of us is working on a painting, if we get stuck or if we’re not sure what it needs, then we get a little mini critique from the other person.”
Although their work is interlinked, they don’t intentionally set out to be similar or different. “It’s kind of interesting to me because you can say, ‘I want both of you to paint a horse,’ and they’re just going to be two different deals, even if the techniques are similar. It’s fun to see that happen,” says David.
Nealy Riley, Kit Fox, oil on gold on panel, 24 x 24 in.
Nealy’s contemporary wildlife paintings offer a striking complement to David’s. She merges refined realism with symbolic, ethereal designs. Through blending oil and metal leaf in works like Kit Fox and Waiting, she captures the spiritual essence of animals. Her works are visually arresting and create a harmonized form through intentional patterns.
In his piece Enrapt,David brings a deeply human approach to the mountain lion subject as it stares directly at the viewer. His work blends a traditional mastery of the figure with contemporary abstraction, vivid color and powerful emotional narratives that reflect themes of personal and spiritual growth.
David Riley, Enrapt, oil, 60 x 48 in.
The act of painting and creating for David begins with a range of voices going through his head that calm as he continues to paint and be present with the creation process.
“There’s a little bit of magic involved with it, not intentionally, but there’s definitely been a lot of times where paintings will just work and they’ll be effortless,” says David. “It’ll have some type of quality, and a lot of time since I paint animals or people, you’ll feel this essence of this other being, and I’ll just catch it—those paintings always are the first to sell at shows.”
David Riley, Mother Knows Best, oil, 48 x 60 in.
Catch some of that magic at David and Nealy Riley’s show at Manitou Galleries at the end of July. —
Manitou Galleries 123 W. Palace Avenue » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 986-0440 » www.manitougalleries.com
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