Show Preview | Beals & Abbate Fine Art: Amy Ringholz

Santa Fe, NM
May 21-June 3

Amy Ringholz, George, ink/oil, 40 x 30.

This story was featured in the May 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art May 2013 print issue, or get the Southwest Art May 2013 digital download now…Or better yet, just subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!

Wildlife painter Amy Ringholz has loved New Mexico for a long time. On one of her recent trips to the state, Ringholz visited the home of Georgia O’Keeffe and toured nearby Ghost Ranch on horseback. “It was pretty surreal—like taking a tour through O’Keeffe’s paintings and seeing New Mexico through her eyes,” Ringholz says. The artist drew upon these experiences—as well as many other deep connections she feels to O’Keeffe and the Southwest—for a new body of work that’s on display this month at Beals & Abbate Fine Art.

The show, titled Homage: Ringholz Celebrates O’Keeffe, runs from May 21 through June 3 and features about 15 new works. An opening reception is on Friday, May 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. The Eldorado Hotel’s restaurant hosts a special gourmet dinner with Ringholz as the guest of honor on May 23. (Call the hotel at 505.995.4502 for reservations.) Additionally, the gallery has organized a unique public art project in which Ringholz will create graffiti-style drawings on the walls of several buildings around Santa Fe—using colored charcoal that washes away with water—during the week of the show.

Amy Ringholz, Keeffe, ink/oil, 40 x 30.

“I’ve always been intrigued by how O’Keeffe became such a well-known female artist in America,” Ringholz says. “I look to her as a role model, and I thought this would be a cool opportunity to honor her through my work.” One way the artist does this is by incorporating elements of O’Keeffe’s design—such as skulls and bones—as stenciled backgrounds in her own signature style of wildlife art. “I’m celebrating O’Keeffe, but in my own way,” Ringholz says.

Beyond the O’Keeffe-inspired aspects, Ringholz is expanding her work in several other areas. Whereas her previous works were done in mostly oil and ink, she is now starting pieces with charcoal, then adding multiple airbrushed layers, and finally using oil and ink on top. She’s also been adding more bold colors—like hot pink and lime green—to her palette. Additionally, she’s trying to do less “portraiture” of animals, she says, depicting them instead as “iconic images” that make a statement or convey symbolic meaning. Ringholz explains that all these elements add more depth and freedom to her works, making them “more fresh than they’ve ever been.” —Lindsay Mitchell

contact information
505.438.8881
 www.bealsandabbate.com

Featured in the May 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art May 2013 digital download
Southwest Art May 2013 print issue
Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!