Western curiosities
Jim Vogel doesn’t need to verbalize his love for the culture of New Mexico, “the weirdness of where we live and how wonderful that is.” His paintings are “anchored in New Mexico historical fact” but the born storyteller brings the facts to life along with the myths that develop in a region with a rich multicultural history.
For the past five years the theme of Dr. El Ocio’s Circo Curioso has been the ongoing subject of his paintings—the effect of the performers and roustabouts on the rural communities it visits. Dr. El Ocio’s story has been developed by his son Sage with input from other family members including Jim’s wife, Christen. Sage has finished the story and Jim’s next exhibition will be Dr. El Ocio’s Exhibitus Termino—the end. It will be shown at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 27 through October 12.
Many of the paintings trace the tale of young Vidal, raised by his herbalist grandmother, who walks in awe into the central ring of the circus. The Grand Entrance depicts the curious boy wandering into the colorful performance
with a gesture of “Que pasa?” as Dr. El Ocio warns him to beware.
Vidal is pictured with his grandmother in Abuela’s Cocina holding a half empty jar of honey collected by his late mother who used to sell honey to the passengers on the Chili Line train that once ran through the Rio Grande Gorge. His grandmother, who is an herbalist, holds a butterfly in her hand that she will add to one of her potions. When Sage visited the studio and saw the butterfly in the old woman’s hand he was inspired to add another element to his story.
The Grand Entrance is a different kind of collaboration between Jim and Christen, who is also a professional artist. Assembling scraps of wood and other materials, Christen constructs the elaborate frames for Jim’s paintings, in this case a three-dimensional stage set, with Jim picking up on Christen’s checkerboard floor. Each artist influences the other and although Christen comes close to being a muse, Jim denies the presence of the traditional, ethereal, Muse. He says, “I don’t believe in the magic of the creative process. I believe in the work. To be creative I have to create.”