Summer showcase
Up to 60 works
Maxwell Alexander Gallery
406 W. Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 275-1060 www.maxwellalexandergallery.com
Beginning July 11, Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles will present its eighth annual Summer Small Works group exhibition, featuring many of the top Western artists in the country, including Logan Maxwell Hagege, Glenn Dean, John Moyers, Jeremy Lipking, Kim Wiggins and others. More than 60 works from 40 artists will be available.
One of the rising stars at the gallery is Brett Allen Johnson, who will be showing Ahead of the Storm, a powerful image of a cowboy with gloomy skies behind him. “I definitely enjoy working on a small scale, and usually go back and forth between that and larger works. It’s always a good chance to think simple and experiment,” he says. “For this one, it was fun to just enjoy the loose brushwork and juicy paint and, most of all, the confidence and steady gate of the horse and rider as they move up the ridge. Those familiar with these dry washes know they’re no place to be with an incoming storm, but these two don’t seem urgent; they’ve been through it all before, together.”
Another rising painter who’s quickly making his mark within the Western world is established contemporary artist Joshua Larock, who has turned his attention to the Southwest in recent years. He will be showing the nocturne The Sound of the Night. “I do like creating small works like The Sound of the Night—it can sometimes be an opportunity to work out an idea for a larger piece while making a complete work that stands on its own at the same time,” he says. “One of my favorite painters is Ernest Meissonier, a 19th-century French artist, and he was known for his small paintings that were just saturated with details. There’s a certain ‘wow’ factor to them as a viewer where I get drawn in to examine them, but I find it’s also really satisfying to create that level of detail in my own work.”
Wyoming-based T. Allen Lawson will present High Humidity, a piece that was inspired by a drive through the central United States. “What struck me most was this muted
arrangement of grays,” he says, adding that he brought the idea back to his studio. “I have an extensive color chart system that I use, as well as color notes and some photographic reference. I enjoy these smaller works, even though I have primarily been working on large studio pieces. In my hometown a couple years ago, they asked me to give them 10 to 12 small paintings. I ended up doing 34 of them. Downtown scenes, alley scenes, businesses, railroad cars and tracks…they just have a spontaneity to them that make them fun to work on.”
The group show will continues through July 25. Visit the gallery website for updates.