Ann Korologos Gallery
January 17-March 16
Peter Campbell, Creek in January, oil, 33 x 44.
This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
With the New Year comes the perfect time to introduce fresh approaches to old traditions. Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, CO, is doing just that by presenting art lovers with a new take on their customary year-round programming. This year—in lieu of its annual assortment of a half-dozen or so monthlong shows—the gallery is introducing four lengthier exhibitions, scheduled quarterly, that celebrate the seasons of the West. The first show in the series, simply titled Winter, opens with an artists’ reception at 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 17, and remains on view through mid-March. The extended timeframe, says gallery manager Caroline Amelia Iles, gives the show curators an opportunity to periodically add new pieces. “So the winter show will be evolving,” adds Iles, “and there will be ample time for people to come back and see new works.”
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- Simon Winegar, Long Shadows, oil, 35 x 48.
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- Dan Young, Who’s Following Who, oil, 16 x 20.
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- Michael Fain, Trees 3, photograph/archival paper, 22 x 28.
Located just a short drive northwest of Aspen, the venue’s snowy mountain setting provides a fitting backdrop for an exhibition of paintings and photographs organized around Colorado’s most celebrated season. The exhibit spotlights the landscape works of photographer Michael Fain and painters Peter Campbell, Ewoud de Groot, Simon Winegar, and Dan Young, each of whom showcases five to eight pieces. Other artists from the gallery’s stable also contribute a few winter-inspired pieces that portray the colors, textures, and moods of snow.
Colorado native Dan Young’s appreciation for snow’s “prismatic” colors is evident in the paintings he brings. “That comes from years of looking at snow, standing in it, freezing my fingers off, and trying to figure out why it does what it does,” says Young. “Snow isn’t just white; if there’s sunlight, everything changes because of reflected light and local color.” A few of his pieces also speak to his love for studying tracks in snow left by both people and wildlife. “Light bounces off their edges and goes into the shadows,” he explains. “It makes it feel more like snow. There’s nothing more satisfying than when a viewer says to me, ‘Wow. That gives me a chill.’”
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- Dan Young, Always in Season, oil, 8 x 10.
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- Ewoud de Groot, Barn Owl and Moon, oil, 28 x 28.
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- Peter Campbell, Sunlit, oil, 12 x 12.
Though Peter Campbell isn’t a Colorado native (he hails from the Carolinas), he has spent the last 24 years living and painting in the Centennial State. Previously a professional photographer, today the Durango, CO, artist views his oils as painterly snapshots of the diverse subjects he has enthusiastically photographed for decades. “I think I just traded the camera for paint,” he says. “There’s something exciting about putting a frame around a scene and capturing it.” As for winter in his adopted home state, adds Campbell, “There’s no quiet like when it snows. There’s an emotional quality to winter that’s totally different from spring, summer, and fall, and that’s what excites me about making winter paintings.”
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- Peter Campbell, Winter Silence, oil, 12 x 12.
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- Michael Fain, Maroon Bells, photograph/archival paper, 20 x 16.
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- Simon Winegar, The Weight of Cold, oil, 48 x 48.
Utah-based painter Simon Winegar admits to having a love-hate relationship with the West’s notoriously frigid season. “Winter is beautiful and tranquil, but also painfully freezing,” he chuckles. “It’s such an intriguing dynamic.” The pale palette of winter entices Winegar to explore values, subtle color shifts, and contrasting textures more intensely, especially in the weathered barns he routinely adds to his landscapes. “So many galleries do a winter show,” observes the artist. “What isn’t common is a show about winter. I like seeing shows like this that have a theme, because there’s a synergy to them—the overall effect is greater than the sum of the parts.” —Kim Agricola
contact information
970.927.9668
www.korologosgallery.com
This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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