Envisioning the West
Wildlife & Western Visions
On April 18, the Plainsmen Gallery will open its anticipated annual edition of Wildlife & Western Visions, a show dedicated to classic and contemporary imagery of two of the most beloved subjects of the Western art genre. The reception, which happens from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Dunedin, Florida-based gallery, is the chance for collectors to get the first taste of this year’s offerings from 21 revered artists.
Included in the show are Stephanie Campos, Nicholas Coleman, Deborah Fellows, R. Tom Gilleon, Grant Hacking, Bonnie Marris, John Nieto, Dustin Payne, Grant Redden, Terry Smith and David Yorke, to name a few.
Randy Galloway will present his drawing Hunters and Warriors in the exhibition. Explaining the piece, he says, “This drawing is done with colored pencil on handmade paper from Thailand. Thai Banana Paper is very thin, so chunks of banana bark and banana fibers add texture throughout this eco-friendly, acid-free kozo paper. Depicted is a young Lakota Sioux hunter stalking his prey, which may have been an elk or a bison.”
Another work in the show is John Coleman’s bronze Legacy. “The regalia of a great Warrior in certain circumstances may be re-created for the warrior’s young son as a way to exemplify the Legacy and honors that he has brought to his family,” Coleman says. “Once a son reaches puberty, however, this would no longer apply as the young man would then have to earn his own honors as he builds his Legacy.”
Crossing the Shallows, by Steven Lang, was inspired by the vision of a group of Cheyenne quietly and purposefully crossing a stream. “Whether on the war trail or scouting enemy territory, they always comported themselves with a warrior discipline, for the success of their venture depended on adherence to one overlying goal: victory,” Lang explains. “Crossing rivers in single file to confuse the enemy who might come across their trail, using the terrain to hide their travels and moving quietly when approaching their goal were cautionary tactics they employed. The silence of movement is what I am conveying in this painting.”
David Yorke’s Fading Glory, “shows a Sioux scout, in the South Dakota Badlands, highlighted by the setting sun. Along his journey back to camp, he quietly takes
in the golden light from the Great Spirit, as it fades into darkness. The title, Fading Glory, also has dual meaning, in that it refers to their people’s fading lifestyle and independence, as the domain for land and a changing culture, spread across the Western Frontier.”
Wildlife & Western Visions will hang through May 9.