Museum of Western Art, Kerrville, TX
April 1-July 9
D. LaRue Mahlke, Above and Beyond, pastel, 40 x 27.
Artists are often the ones who help us look up and see the light when the difficulties of life are pulling us down. That’s exactly what a new group exhibition, titled The Heavens Declare! Celebrating the Glory of the Skies, is designed to do. The show is curated by Texas landscape painter Denise LaRue Mahlke, who first envisioned it many years ago but waited for just the right time to present it. After two years of discouraging world events, and an encouraging conversation in 2020 with Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, TX, she knew the time was right. The Heavens Declare! opens during the weekend of Palm Sunday and at the height of bluebonnet season in the Texas Hill Country, with a reception on Saturday, April 9, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
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- Linda Glover Gooch, The Song of Summer, oil, 22 x 30.
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- G. Russell Case, In the Light, oil, 16 x 20.
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- Michael Magrin, Invitation to Peace, oil, 12 x 12.
Because The Heavens Declare! is all about offering hope and was inspired by Psalm 19, Mahlke reached out to artists whose landscape work she admired and whose motivation for creating aligned with the theme. The nine painters joining Mahlke in exhibiting work are Phil Bob Borman, G. Russell Case, Laurel Daniel, Linda Glover Gooch, David Griffin, David Grossmann, Michael Magrin, Phil Starke, and John Taft. Together they are showing 100 paintings throughout the museum’s three galleries. Prior to the opening reception, there are artists’ talks and tours scheduled, along with a presentation by publisher and art adviser Tim Newton, who is also exhibiting his landscape photographs. All works are for sale, and a catalog is available for purchase.
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- David Griffin, Acquainted With the Light, oil, 36 x 48.
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- Phil Starke, Incoming Rain, Colorado, oil, 20 x 24.
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- Laurel Daniel, The Waves and Wind Still Know, oil, 48 x 60.
“The artists were given free rein to capture anything that inspired them within the ‘skyscape’ and ‘looking up’ themes—sunny skies, stormy skies, sunrises, sunsets, and nocturnes,” says Mahlke. “Some are lovely landscapes with a small but stunning sky. In others, the sky is the primary focus, with a slight horizon line. And in still others, the sky is the only subject, filling the entire canvas.” Mahlke is showing several of her signature pastel pieces, including A SURE HOPE, which features a dark, stormy sky giving way to glimmers of golden light—a fitting visual summary for a show created at a most appropriate time. —Allison Malafronte
contact information
830.896.2553
www.museumofwesternart.com
This story appeared in the April/May 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.