COORS WESTERN ART SHOW GIVES PATRONS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

As many as 40,000 people are expected to pass through the galleries during the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, possibly the largest event on the calendar for artists who depict the region’s lifestyle and geography.

“So many people who come to this show, they never see art any other time of the year,” said Rose Fredrick, who has curated the exhibit of paintings and sculpture for 21 years. “I want to give them something they can think about.”

The assembled works capture the sprawling landscapes of the West and the sinewy animals that inhabit its ranches and open spaces, there are also works that take on the urgency of current concerns — artists whose views of family farms and vast plains remind viewers that these places are disappearing, whose images of birds soaring and wild horses running carry messages that we have to preserve those species who are being displaced by development and energy exploration.

“We have water issues. We have issues with land,” she said. “There are just so many things we have going on here and a lot of our artists are tackling those things.”

Painter Dan Young, this year’s featured artist, has his own way of making the West real. His artful efforts celebrate the terrain without getting too senti-

Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale

The exhibit, which is open through Jan. 21, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2018. Find the art on the third level of the Expo Hall from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays. There’s no extra fee beyond the regular stock show admission.

More info at coorswesternart.com. mental about it.

The National Western always acquires a piece from the featured artist and this year it is adding Young’s “The Super Moon on the Colorado.”

The piece demonstrates Young’s signature painting style, which starts with the landscapes Western painters are known for, but moves into a deeply personal and interpretive place.

While traditional Western oil paintings tends to be hyper-realistic, Young is equally influenced by Impressionism. His brushstrokes, soft and in-motion, are not meant to convey precision as much as emotion.

With “The Super Moon on the Colorado,” for example, the moon itself, which can loom large on a dark night, is reduced to a small, glowing dot that is almost out of the picture.

“I try to paint those scenes the average viewer may not even notice,” he said.