Window to the West

The theme of this exhibit was centered on the west; however it gave a different interpretation of what I think most people portray the west to be. When thinking of the west I picture empty, non inhabited spaces and dirty images of cowboys. However this was a completely different view. Right when you walked in and looked to your right you saw paintings that were much cooler in color. They were of huge landscapes with bright scenery where it depicted a lost or loneliness effect to the animal packs that were traveling together. The paintings made you feel that each one was searching for something, was more defensive in tone and incorporated the background of the landscape in each painting. However when you went to the left you paintings have more warmth to them. The color choices are definitely more warm hues as well as the feelings portrayed. The paintings all have a friendliness, motherly emotion, and easy going feeling to their collaboration. When you start to walk down the hallway you are greeted in the distance to a definite window to the west. It is the largest painting in the collection and had beautiful colorful scenery into an image of the west that I think we forget lives there. It added depth to the hallway almost as if you were walking into the scenery of the land itself. Throughout the rest of the gallery throughout the hallway it seemed to focus on keeping collections grouped by water, wildlife, and then people of the west.

The best of show in my opinion was “Spring Ballet” by Bonnie Marris. Besides the fact that this artist is absolutely amazing at depicting the feeling or emotion of the wildlife she paints she brings out great vibrancy from her art. This particular painting has two horses depicted, one a white horse and the other a brown colt, frolicking in a pasture during the daytime. The painting is oil on canvas and has this intense lighting coming off of it illuminating the sun shining down on the coat of the white horse. It has almost an angelic feeling to it when looking at it. I was so amazed at the lighting that I even checked to see if the lights were simply shining down on the painting however there was only one and it was not directly on it. The artist captured such a beautiful scene and really transcended it through her work. She has the focus clearly on the two horses and doesn’t add much detail on the scenery. It’s almost like they are coming out of a dark forest like environment into rays of sunshine. She has grasped the detail of the hair of the horse in the wind all the way to the muscle structure and strength in the body. The painting quickly grabs your attention immediately when you walk in and look to the left; it draws you into the glow of the art.

Spring Ballet

Bonnie Marris

Oil 36x48 inches

The worst of show was “Coffee Time” by Donald “Putt” Putnam. I disliked the color that he used, it was too filled with pink and lacked other color. The painting displays a woman and a man in a bedroom setting. The woman looks unhappy, overcome by sadness or remorse and is sitting on the floor next to the bed unclothed. She has her blouse undone with her breast exposed with her hair unraveling from what use to be a neat up do. The man in the painting is fully clothed, with his boots still on laying on the bed. He exhibits a feeling of domination since he is lying at full length clearly not allowing any room for the woman sitting next to him on the floor. H e leaves room for his holster and gun yet allows the woman to crouch at his side, not even fully dressed. The portrait is clearly demeaning of woman and has the thought that this man is domineering over the woman who I felt ended such a great show with distaste.

The logic behind the gallery I felt was to incorporate different emotions as you progressed. As in stating earlier you had a feeling of companionship however that you were searching for the unknown or more lost in the vast west, then you went down the hallway and say visions of the west almost as you were traveling through these beautiful areas and on an adventure. You then get taken to the wild parts of the west, the wild horses, the wolves, and bison. You see the ugliness that lies in all areas of the world which was the demeaning picture of what humans are capable of and then get sidetracked again with the magic of the Indian tribes. You end the journey returning home with the warmth of family and companionship with the paintings of the mother and her cubs, the horse and her colt, etc. I think this was the logic behind how the paintings were set up; they were setup in such a way as for you to experience the journey yourself.

When conducting “I see, You see” with my partner Megan one of the paintings we viewed together was “On the Edge of Night” by Daivd Yorke. This painting has a pack of wolves looking off to the distance over a stream in the shadow of the day ending enveloped in the forest. Megan saw that the pack was on defense and was waiting to strike on their prey. She saw that they were exhibiting communication through the wolf on the rock howling out to the sky almost as to call on more of them or sending a message to the wolves present. Megan felt this portrayed human instinct in the art. I agreed however I added that I felt that they were in the shadow of night waiting in this particular area because this is what they view as safe. The shadow acts like blanket engulfing them in their security. They are looking on almost as if watching for the sun to set so that they can begin their day. The reverse of what we do when the sun rises. These begins are children of the night and are waiting to go out amongst the dark to start their day. The howl signifies that they rule the night and as soon as the sun has set they are now the owners of the night.

On the Edge of Night

David Yorke

Oil 36x48 inches

The main message of the exhibit was “companionship”. In every picture neither animal nor human was alone. Each had a partner, pack, or family that was accompanying them on their journey or relishing with them in the beauty of the west. The animals in the art were displaying human emotion by exhibiting caring, nurturing, and protective characteristics throughout the art. The wildlife also showed happiness and strength throughout the paintings as well. The human beings although very few were shown to be traveling, working and relaxing as one also leading back to companionship.

I honestly don’t think that this theme would connect with others around the world. My first impression when hearing the “window to the west” was the name of the exhibit, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going. I thought this was going to be a bunch of paintings with horses, livestock and empty spaces with dirt. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the paintings showed beautiful areas that normally we would never encounter out in the west. Also, it showed animals interacting in a way that most humans would never really get to see, because it caught them in the wild. This was definitely worth seeing and I think that it go against what people would expect to see when hearing “window to the west”.