Still Being Written

Altamira Fine Art hosts a three-man show this August.

By Alyssa M. Tidwell

Young, upcoming artists will have a chance to shine during Altamira Fine Art’s midsummer group show, New West Rising. Featuring the likes of Jacob Lovett, Tanden Launder and Cyrus Walker, the exhibition is a testament to the continuously evolving world of Western art and what it means to create outside the box.

Cyrus Walker, Not Right Now, oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in.

“New West Rising is about looking at what happens when the next generation of artists begins to define the West on its own terms,” says Jason Williams, owner of Altamira Fine Art. “The New West genre has always been about evolution—taking the history, mythology, landscape and visual language of the West and reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens. For that evolution to continue, young artists have to be given space to experiment, take risks and develop voices that feel authentic to their own time.”

Cyrus Walker, Blueberry, oil and acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50 in.

Collectors should be on the lookout for several noteworthy works in the upcoming exhibition, including Walker’s action-filled scenes Not Right Now, Nothing to Hold and Blueberry; Lovett’s cinematic The Hardest of Hearts and Renegade Serenade; and Launder’s mixed media collage-style Titan of the Tetons. Each artists’ work is wholly unique.

Jacob Lovett, Renegade Serenade, oil on canvas, 48 x 72 in.

“Jacob Lovett, Tanden Launder and Cyrus Walker are each approaching the genre from a different direction. Jacob brings a cinematic quality to cowboy imagery, combining realism with bold compositional choices that push the figure beyond the traditional frame. Tanden’s work layers history, place and cultural memory into dense, powerful compositions that feel both personal and collective. Cyrus brings a graphic, almost comic-inspired language to Western subjects, creating work that is immediate, playful and sharply contemporary,” Williams adds.

“Together, these artists remind us that the West is not a fixed idea. It is still being written, questioned and reimagined by the artists rising within it.”