Show Preview | Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale

National Western Stock Show Complex
January 8

Elsa Sroka, La Vie en Rose, oil, 30 x 30.

Elsa Sroka, La Vie en Rose, oil, 30 x 30.

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.

WHILE MANY of us are just starting to unwind from the festive holiday season, there remains much for art lovers to celebrate at the annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale in Denver, CO. Come snow or sunshine, this popular exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and photographs—all dedicated to subjects and themes inspired by the American West—always attracts an enthusiastic crowd. The 26th annual show kicks off at the National Western Stock Show Complex Expo Hall on Tuesday, January 8, with a Red Carpet Gala Reception at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to check out the show beginning on Saturday, January 12.

This year’s lineup features more than 60 established and up-and-coming contemporary realists from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Collectively, the group captures both traditional and contemporary pictures of western life. But as curator Rose Fredrick points out, “The Coors show is really more about the spirit of the West; it’s more of a landscape of the artists’ minds. They are presenting the West the way they see it.” Thus, visitors can expect to see an eclectic mix of fun, refreshing, and eye-opening works of art. “If you come, you are going to see 60 different stories,” says Fredrick. “Each artist is telling you his or her own story. Art is so personal, especially with artists at this level. They are not afraid to go deep and show you who they are.”

Award-winning artist Terry Gardner returns to the show for his 15th year and is this year’s featured artist. The Morrison, CO, artist’s painting THE PURPLE RIDER has also been selected as the show’s signature work and heads to the National Western’s permanent art collection when the exhibition ends. One of the most noteworthy features of Gardner’s painting, says Fredrick, is its subject: a woman rider on a cattle drive. “Terry was looking through the collection of art we’ve purchased over the years, and he noted that we don’t have any works that portray cowgirls,” she recounts. “Sure enough, he was absolutely right—there were no female riders. That was exciting to me that he dug into that.”

Coors patrons will notice other familiar names in the show like Michael Blessing, Teresa Elliott, Ron Hicks, Howard Post, and Dinah K. Worman. But collectors will also discover a number of new names this year, says Fredrick, including charcoal and graphite artist Lee Andre, cosmology-inspired photographer Andrew Beckham, and landscape painter Billyo O’Donnell, an “amazing colorist” out of Missouri. Several sculptors join the group for the first time, too. “They use a lot of different materials—Plexiglas, wood, stone, found objects, things like that,” says Fredrick. “They’re pushing boundaries by incorporating different materials and concepts, maybe even with a little abstraction.”

Such “surprises” are precisely what she loves about the show, says Fredrick, who has served as its curator since 1997. “That’s what the Coors show is really known for: You never know what you are going to see every time you come,” she says. “It’s gotten to be bigger than its confines.” The exhibition coincides with the National Western Stock Show and remains on view through January 27. —Kim Agricola

contact information
303.291.2567
www.coorswesternart.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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